Waitrose Drops Online Flower Sales to Focus on Wine and Food Gifting: Does This Signal the End for Luxury Perishable Deliveries, or Is There Still a Gap for Specialist Florists?
As a florist with 30 years of experience, I find Waitrose’s decision to stop selling online flowers and shift focus to wine and food gifting quite intriguing. In fact, I was even employed by Waitrose to train a member of staff in each store to merchandise their flowers, because flowers are one of the few products that multiples can’t just “planogram” — you can’t predict which specific flowers will sell out, like red roses for example.
My own business has always thrived on the idea that floral products don’t “fit into a trolley,” and I’ve carved out a niche in the luxury perishable delivery market. Does Waitrose’s move mean the end of this segment, or is there still room for a specialist market? What do you all think?
