Floral gift specialist Direct2Florist is reporting bumper Christmas sales as consumers look to turn their homes into a traditional festive wonderland. In a further sign that worries over the recession are being cast aside for the Christmas period, the Bolton-based company is reporting an increase in visitor traffic of nearly 300% compared to the same time last year, with sales figures to match.
“We’re enjoying a great Christmas sales period so far that’s far exceeding our expectations,” says Direct2Florist’s Managing Director Simon Stirling. “Customers are definitely more optimistic than they were a few weeks ago, but they’re still shopping around to find the best value and they’re definitely becoming more and more savvy. Therefore, because we don’t take huge commissions out of the order like some of the other flower delivery companies do, we’re winning plenty of customers over.”
The direct2Florist model allows customers to buy from a network of local florists via www.direct2florist.com, from wherever they are in the world, whatever the time of day, another factor that Simon says is important to the company’s ongoing success.
“Shoppers definitely appreciate being able to ‘visit’ a local florist, albeit virtually through the Internet, at a time that suits them. That’s we publish photos of the shops and their floral designs, giving customers the opportunity to see first hand exactly what they can expect to send to a friend or relative, or receive themselves. That makes us unique in our field.”
For the record, this year’s top selling Christmas colours are the old favourites of red and green, along with silver and gold, although some customers are opting for the more unusual combination of black and orange!