At City Line Florist in Trumbull, Connecticut, plant sales “skyrocketed” in 2020, and Nicole Palazzo, manager of product development and marketing, and a member of the Society of American Florists’ Next Gen Task Force, “100 percent” attributes the spike to COVID-19.
Increased interest in houseplants for the shop started at Easter — a phenomenon SAF saw play out across the country last spring, based on feedback to retailer member surveys. Since then, that interest has kept growing for Palazzo and team, nurtured and tended to by City Line’s plant-centric approaches on social media, along with its eye-catching outdoor displays and a staff ready to assist customers who need some handholding.
In the Jan/Feb issue of Floral Management, Palazzo shared some of her top tips for getting in on the green of houseplants. Those include:
Go big on social. Palazzo worked the realities of cold weather living during a pandemic into her marketing tactics on social media. Throughout 2020, she ran frequent virtual plant sales via Instagram Stories that translated to real-time sales. In each, Palazzo featured about 10 plants with a quick pitch aimed at providing followers with basic plant info. Every Story led to a sold-out inventory of the featured products. Not able to create or maintain an entire plant section on your site? Take a page from Palazzo: The plant-focused content on City Line’s social media is vital to sales for the shop since its website doesn’t mirror the “huge variety” of plants available in person. Social media acts as backup, letting customers know real-time inventory and pushing more plants to the people.
Be choosy about containers. “What sets City Line apart are our containers,” Palazzo said. The shop stopped putting plants out in run-of-the-mill plastic containers and instead uses ceramic options — and each plant gets a dedicated container that speaks to its aesthetic and personality. “You want people to be able to envision it in their home,” she said. That doesn’t mean you have to become a Crate and Barrel merchandiser; it just means you pay attention to plant and container pairings and have a variety, from whimsical (giraffes and unicorns) to trendy (lush jungle) to timeless (simple ceramic). In addition to upping perceived value and retail price, containers also represent a chance to work in care-and-handling information to customers and position yourself as an expert. “People always want to get a fancy container, which is great, but the biggest mistake is not having drainage on the container for the water,” Palazzo said.
Read more about Palazzo’s plant story in Floral Management.
Plus, starting in March 2021, the Society of American Florists has a host of new tools available through its first ever Great Big Plant Event to help florists who want to improve their plant business learn, feel inspired and connect with industry partners. Member Price: $99.00; non-member price: $139.00. A full list of presenters, demo names and a schedule of live events will be added to the Great Big Plant Event page throughout February.
Interested in partnering with SAF for the Great Big Plant Event or other programming this year? Contact Sheila Santiago, ssantiago@safnow.org.
Amanda Long is a contributing writer to Floral Management magazine.
