News
The Tuesday Valentine is Back in 2023! How Do I Love Thee?
November 16, 2022
Are you ready to count the ways toward a successful Valentine holiday in 2023? It’s time for a break! Will everything finally work in harmony in 2023 after the past few years of weekend holidays, supply chain disruptions, short labor, and tight inventory?
With the Valentine’s holiday 
holding court as the first- or second-largest sales week of the year and generating 30 percent to 40 percent of the year’s total holiday dollars, it’s safe to say that a successful Valentine’s Day in 2023 will be a crucial component of organic growth across the entire industry.
So how do we “count the ways” toward a successful Valentine’s Day this year? Following are five of the most important components in achieving a super-profitable Valentine’s week.
1. Sales Budgeting
A simple SWAG (scientific wild a** guess) method of selecting a rote sales increase based on an annual figure doesn’t work. Budgets for a holiday — especially one of this magnitude — must be calculated with acute detail, factoring in the following components:
- What were your base Valentine’s Day sales in 2022?
- Were there any weather or product shortage anomalies in 2022 that likely will not recur in 2023? There may be some upside in 2023 as a result.
- What is your corporate budgeted sales increase? Can you exceed it while maintaining strong profitability?
- Can you find sales records from 2011 and 2012? If so, what was the sales increase percentage and the unit increase percentage from year to year on this similar calendar?
- Are there any factors that will cause a non-organic sales increase in 2023, such as remodeled stores, new stores, retail increases, larger floral footprint, etc.? Factor in those changes.
- Are there any factors that will cause a non-organic sales decrease in 2023, such as store closings, reduced retails, less labor, a smaller floral footprint, etc.? Factor in those changes.
- Sales dollars alone don’t tell the whole story. Be sure to calculate and budget anticipated customer count, retail sales per customer and total units by category.
- Building budgets by individual SKU, rolling them up into each individual store budget, and then rolling it all up into a total company budget will create the most accuracy and will also provide a better foundation for financial tracking as Valentine’s week progresses.
2. Gross Margin Budgeting
Gross margin Budgeting is the money that’s left over to pay the bills after product is sold, and it is the determining factor between running a profitable business versus running a bankrupt one. How is gross margin calculated? Sales – Cost of Sales = Gross Margin. The three most important factors in budgeting gross margin are your final sales budget, your final cost of goods and your inventory variance.
3. Product Planning
Placing the right dollar amount of product in each store is the only way to achieve your planned sales and profit goals. If there’s not enough product in- store, you simply won’t meet your sales goal. Once SKUs and budgets are planned by individual store, it’s imperative that store associates understand and have access to those detailed plans and order products accordingly. Be sure to also factor in a normal amount of shrink so that as product becomes outdated, there continues to be enough on hand to achieve the target sales goals. In addition, sudden changes in inventory levels can wreak havoc on financial stability. It’s wise to stagger product deliveries over the four weeks preceding Valentine’s Day, starting with nonperishables such as balloons, supplies, containers, and upgrade accessories, and finishing the delivery cycle with shorter shelf-life products closer to the holiday itself.
4. Marketing Strategy
So, we have a great opportunity to make significant gains in the industry’s revenue this year. Now, it’s time to supercharge our marketing efforts accordingly. Indeed, we have so many more marketing channels available to us nowadays that will ignite Valentine’s Day sales exponentially. Here are a few of my favorites:
- The weekly ad circular, plus social media posts, checklane fliers, in-store signage, outside A-frames, employee badges and more offer excellent opportunities to tout the holiday. The National Retail Federation tells us that 40 percent of Christmas shopping begins right after Labor Day, so launching your Valentine’s Day marketing collateral immediately after Christmas is not too soon!
- Quick Tip: Don’t forget to add a compelling Valentine’s Day banner to the homepage of your company’s website, with a link to your e-commerce ordering portal.
- Pop-up stores have become more than a trend. They’ve become a bonafide way to add additional revenue streams to your core business. A pop-up store can be as simple as an outdoor selling space or tent structure, all the way to a space in a local shopping center, airport, restaurant, or coffee shop. With all of the new mobile credit-card readers out there, opening numerous pop-up stores is easier than ever.
- Quick Tip: Have you tried organizing a fleet of
flower vans to serve as “pop-up stores” waiting at the exit of each of your city’s major office buildings? Renting panel vans is relatively low cost and, when drivers are armed with mobile credit-card readers, these “pop-ups” can be become huge cash cows on Monday and on Valentine’s Day Tuesday. Be sure to check your city’s ordinances for potential permits needed.
- Quick Tip: Have you tried organizing a fleet of
- Radio/TV is a viable option if your company already runs weekly total-store promotions. Simply ask the marketing team to add a “ticker,” “screen crawler” or “tag line” to the company’s current TV/radio ad promoting your hottest Valentine features.
- Quick Tip: In every piece of marketing collateral (website, signage, social media, etc.), always include the following:
- Image, item, and price.
- The reminder: “Valentine’s Day is Tuesday, February 14!”
- Icons for any social media sites on which your company/store will be interacting.
- The website address of your e-commerce floral portal.
- Quick Tip: In every piece of marketing collateral (website, signage, social media, etc.), always include the following:
5. Store Fun Factor
As entrepreneur Richard Branson said, “Customers shouldn’t think of your business as a place to buy a product or use a service. It should be a fun place to be!”
Valentine’s Day 2023 is a time to go all out with in-store excitement and engaging associates. Plan some fun employee contests, or coordinate customer prizes. Aside from all the budgeting, marketing, and planning, the best way to a customer’s wallet is to focus on the feeling he gets when he’s face-to-face with the flowers!
By Cindy Hanauer Trustee Emeritus; American Floral Endowment
