How to Successfully Sell Houseplants

Houseplants have grown in popularity due to trends and customer behaviour. They have numerous benefits making them such an important product that florists should actively promote. By promoting houseplants, we not only increase our business but also contribute to a healthier and greener world.

We need to react to customer demand and wants… and if we don’t, these potential customers will just shop elsewhere and we, the florist industry, do not want that. Every order we receive from a customer is a potential future customer and if we can claim a new customer every day, then we are on a winning streak.

Houseplants purify the air in our homes, workplaces, hotels, spas, and numerous other places. They filter toxins from the air, improving indoor air quality. They also help maintain balanced humidity levels when the plant releases moisture. This helps with reducing respiratory issues and dry skin.

Studies show that being around greenery/ foliage can lower stress and anxiety, enhancing well-being as well as boosting concentration, creativity and productivity. This makes them a fabulous addition to offices and study areas. This is where I would be targeting businesses in my town/city/village. Such knowledge, as florists, is a sure win when promoting your business…you are the expert and know which plants will look amazing and really go for the well-being angle when marketing.

Décor

Houseplants enhance décor, they add beauty and life to any space making them perfect for home and office design. They create a relaxing atmosphere bringing a sense of calm and connection to nature, which is especially beneficial in urban environments.

New home developments are ideal for pitching new business.

A few ideas that I have used:

• Offer houseplants for the sales office and show homes.

• Offer a weekly indoor houseplant care service.

• Offer new home gifts of houseplant for the builder/developer/estate agent to send to new owners of the property they have just built/sold.

Always offer a loyalty discount and perhaps offer an ‘exclusive’ plant gift that you don’t offer to other businesses. This could be the plant container, it could be the variety/colour of plant, it could be a bespoke gift card, it could be that you include a sachet of plant food, it could be a packet of indoor flower bulbs/seeds ….just something that makes you stand out and always ensure YOUR brand is on the plant.

These new home owners are your future customers.

Houseplant Care Service

Offering an indoor houseplant care service involves visiting the homes and offices on a regular basis to ensure plants remain healthy and vibrant. Watering, pruning, feeding, cleaning and inspecting for pests or disease are the main tasks when offering this service.

You could offer to provide weekly or bi-weekly services for private homes or commercial clients. I have always found that this is a good service to offer and can set your business apart from your competitors. You and your team are the experts and can make profit from this service. It must be a well-executed service with a plan of who, when and how the service can be delivered.

I always remember when I was a trainee florist, one day a week, I used to go out in the florist van, with a trained florist, and shadow them when servicing plants in private homes and offices.

I learnt so much on these days:

• How to plan routes, contact customers, pack the van with all materials, tools etc.

• How to care for plants.

• How to respect customers’ homes and businesses.

• How to conduct myself in homes and offices.

• Learning Latin names of plants.

• Learning what conditions certain plants preferred.

• Giving advice on plant care.

• Offering alternative suggestions to plant choices.

Marketing Houseplants 

Of course, what we all know is that houseplants have a lasting quality (if looked after) and they can create opportunities for great window displays, in-store merchandising displays and reasons to promote your business on social media and on-line.

Source some great containers, they can be plain, jazzy, all different sizes and shapes, but this added touch to a house plant can be the reason you create a sale. Don’t buy a tray of plants and just leave them in the grower’s tray. You will always have more chance of selling plants when you add something and make it unique in some way and then display in a must-buy fashion.

Houseplants appeal to a broad range of customers, including interior designers, wellness enthusiasts and plant lovers. They also have a feel-good factor for sending them as a gift but let’s not forget the impulse buy from the customer who has seen a gorgeous house plant in a beautiful pot and decided to treat themselves or buy it for Auntie Dot’s birthday whilst browsing or waiting for a bouquet to be made.

Houseplants for Education

Finally, houseplants have huge educational opportunities. Offer workshops on planting and the benefits of house plants in the home and workplace. Offer to visit local primary schools to talk about house plants and how important they are for our planet. Young children are our future and if we can start, at a young age, to encourage them to embrace plants in the home, the world will be a better place and you will be improving your business.

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With over 35 years’ experience, Karen Barnes is one of the UK’s leading consultants to the floral industry and an expert in product development, future trends & colours, and floral photography design & planning. She’s an interior floral designer, high profile wedding and event floral planner, and prominent international competition judge.​​In a distinguished career, Karen has been awarded gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, selected to judge two Floral Design World Cups and been voted one of the top ten florists in the UK by The Independent on Sunday Newspaper.​​Her style and influences come from new and popular flower varieties, fashion, art, travel and emerging trends on a global scale.​Karen Barnes NDSF, IoPF, AIFD, CFD, CAFA, UKFJG