FLORISTS IN CHENNAI

Chennai may not have an Edward Goodyear, who is one of Londonīs leading florists providing floral arrangements to Her Majesty the Queen, to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh and to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.  But it has its own flower boutiques like Petals and Sepals, Buds and Blooms, Dianthus and Floral Fantasy providing quality floral arrangements.

The Market in Chennai

“This is a service industry, the product here is not like ‘ketchup’. Something, which can be kept on a shelf for consumers to pick up.  It is a perishable product.  We have to understand the customer’s need and budget.  Being very time oriented, the support system – the logistics is very important”, says one of Chennai’s leading florists.

Basically there are three kinds of florists.  The florist in the hotels housed inside the campus of the hotel, making floral arrangements exclusively for the hotel.  Then there are the florists in the departmental stores or commercial complexes having their own flower boutiques, catering to the floating population in the vicinity of their shop; they also do door delivery. 

The third kind of florist is the ‘simple road side florist’.  These florists operate from small places outside establishments or complexes like Nilgiri's or Cison’s.  They have just a small range of flowers and floral arrangements.  They make bouquets out of low cost flowers.  They buy only such kind of flowers, which will have a reasonably long life. They look to make just Rs. 200/- or Rs. 300/- a day.

Growth of the Market

The florists in star hotels have their task cut out since they have a regular demand to cater to. On the other hand, the roadside florists have mushroomed over the years and are doing very well. Because of this the middle segment or the regular boutiques have remained stagnant. One can even say there is a negative trend as far as growth is concerned.

Before e-commerce and the age of the Internet, if one had to send a bouquet to some one abroad, it had to be done through Fleurop-Interflora (the market leader in the world and the best known flower ordering service, supported by 57,000 carefully selected flower shops in over 150 countries).  The person would have to pay the amount for the bouquet to the local Fleurop-Interflora member florist who would intimate the member in the concerned city abroad about the order through fax or telex.  The member florist in the particular city would then deliver the bouquet to the concerned person.  This was not only a cumbersome and time consuming process but also expensive.  Now it is only a matter of a few minutes transaction on the web to deliver a bouquet to someone on the other side of the Atlantic. There are numerous portals offering these services in Chennai and throughout India.

Risk Factors

Chennai being a warm place, the flowers take a beating.  This is the biggest risk factor in the business say many florists.  Being a perishable commodity there is a lot of wastage in different parts of the supply chain.  By the time the flower reaches the florist it is already 3 days old.  For example if you take the flowers sourced from Bangalore.  If they are harvested this morning then they reach the local market the next morning, after which they are sold and dispatched that night.  They reach Chennai on the morning of the next day, the third day after the flower has been harvested.  The customer's getting a decent flower life of three to four days, depends on the kind of care the flower got in the first three days.  If the flower is neglected in the first three days, its life is reduced.  A lot of care has to be taken , since it is not like onion or tomato, which can be used in a food preparation even if they have a slight cut or damage.  If the flower gets cut it has to be rejected.  The wastage factor is another big risk.

Recommended Reading:

Gary L. McDaniel’s ‘Floral Design and Arrangement’ - where the fundamental skills and methods used by florists to create modern commercial designs, recent skills and backgounds of various styles are described in detail.

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