Most florists are acquainted with the idea of add-ons to bouquet and arrangements sales as a means to boost revenue from purchases. Many florists offer chocolates, balloons, and stuffed animals as add-ons to accomplish this purpose and are experiencing a lot of success. If you’re not currently offering fruit baskets, gourmet baskets filled with snacks or a combination basket of fruit and gourmet items, these could be excellent add-on products to include in your product line.
Fruit Baskets
Before you commit to this idea, do a little research. First, is anyone in your market currently offering fruit baskets or an Edible Arrangements? If so, your market may not support another player. You should also make sure you’re prepared to handle the additional planning related to marketing your new product offering, stocking fresh fruit, and assembling the baskets.
When you’re starting out, require a 24-hour advance notice on your fruit basket orders. This will give you the opportunity to buy the fruit you need to fill the order and build up a small stock of leftover fruit for orders over the next few days. Fruit is very perishable, so choose varieties with a longer shelf life, such as apples, oranges, pears, kiwis, pineapples, and grapes. Steer clear of bananas and berries which spoil very quickly, especially if they have to weather a long ride in the delivery van in the summer. You will also need to keep at least two sizes of baskets and some shrink bags on hand.
Fruit prices can vary based on season and your regional location, so your retail price for the fruit basket should reflect the cost of the fruit at the highest price of the year times 2.5. Remember to build — and follow — a standard recipe for the fruit basket.
Fruit baskets are a great add-on option for florists to consider to boost revenues on sales.
Gourmet and Snack Baskets
The market for gourmet treat baskets is a little trickier. Make sure to research your market and see if anyone else in your area offers gourmet baskets before deciding to invest in stocking this product. The easy way out is to buy pre-made baskets, which controls your cost and provides you with products with a longer shelf life. However, you could also work to include a thoughtful selection of treats from different retailers, as well as local specialties that connect your shop to the community.
Snack baskets are the easiest of the food line. It requires a basket, a shrink wrap bag, and a trip to a bulk food store for five or six boxes of candy bars, packaged cookies, chips, and crackers. Throw in a couple cans of soda and you have the basket every junk food lover dreams of.
Final Thoughts
Fruit, snack, and gourmet baskets can make incredible add-on offerings to help bring a smile to a gift recipient’s face and boost your revenue on each sale. Before you invest in marketing for and stocking inventory for these products, however, do your research to make sure this is a viable and profitable option for your shop and local market.
