FLORAL BUYERS FINDING QUALITY SWEETEST: STUDY

AMY I. STICKEL

NEWARK, Del. -- Supermarket florists are beginning to embrace the idea that product quality, and not low price, is the most important factor in floral department success, according to a new retail study to be released this week.

The study, conducted by Prince & Prince, Columbus, Ohio, for the Floral Marketing Association here and the Food Marketing Institute, Washington, found that floral buyers rank consistent quality as their No. 1 priority when purchasing products. Quantity price breaks, on the other hand, ranked fourth in priority, behind sales performance and post-harvest care. The 133-page study will be presented at the third annual joint Super Floral Show/Floral Marketing Association Convention in Columbus.

Few floral buyers are using computer-based buying and scan data for purchasing, according to the study, which was partially funded by the Miami-based Colombia Flower Council. Wholesalers appear to be taking the lead in using available technology. The study also found that wholesale florists are becoming a significant factor in the mass market. More and more supermarkets are buying from wholesale florists, rather than directly through growers or supermarket wholesalers.

From January to March of this year, Prince & Prince conducted phone interviews and distributed questionnaires asking floral buyers about their priorities, practices, business environments and floral sources. The survey results represent 29,000 mass-market floral outlets, including supermarkets and deep-discount merchants. The findings about quality concerns are particularly important, said Terry Humfeld, director of floral programs for the association, a division of the Produce Marketing Association. Humfeld recently spoke to SN about the study, the upcoming convention and issues facing the

floral industry.

Quality is one of the greatest challenges supermarket florists need to confront, he said. Mass-market florists, including supermarket floral departments, often have a bad image with shoppers. "Buyers know [that] if they don't have consistent quality, price doesn't matter at all, particularly to the consumer," he said. "This is more verification that price is not the most important issue [for most buyers]."

However, many supermarkets still haven't learned that lesson.

"Companies that focus only on price, and do not look at the broader issues such as providing a quality product to the consumer will not, in my view, be as successful," he said. Humfeld said supermarkets should establish themselves in the floral business before they start worrying about competition from deep-discount merchandisers like Kmart, Troy, Mich., and Target Stores, Minneapolis. "The company or companies that eventually succeed in establishing a strong presence through their floral programs, whether they be a discount mass-merchandiser or a supermarket-type operation, are going to be the companies that pay particularly close attention to such issues as proper care and handling."

Because supermarkets and discount stores rely so much on impulse purchases, quality and good merchandising are vital. "There are a lot of supermarkets and discount mass merchandisers that haven't quite figured it out yet when it comes to merchandising," he said. For example, supermarkets that do not remove the sleeves from plants, in order to save shelf-space, are hurting themselves in the long run. Shoppers probably won't pay for a product they can't actually see. "There are a lot of companies out there that haven't quite figured out that the space you save by leaving the plant's sleeve is really dollars lost in the long run," Humfeld said.

"The companies who just go for the turn, they're not going to be as successful."

Training is another aspect that needs more emphasis, Humfeld said. Floral executives need to communicate the care and handling of flowers and plants better, both to employees and shoppers.

"If the product is handled properly at the store, and the consumers get a good product that looks nice, they will come back," he said. "If they're unhappy with the product, they may spend their dollars on something else." The association has formed a task force to study the problem, he said. The task force, will meet for the second time at the convention this week.