From an event perspective, we try and keep everything to recipes. Most of our products are bunched into groups. Part of a typical bouquet might consist of 5 tulips or 10. By keeping everything uniform it is not necessary for designers to calculate pricing during production, because we all know that typical designers will cheat or add a few here and there which can add up in a years time on the average. If I am using 10 tulips for a centerpiece that costs me $4.00 I will mark them up to $20. However I will also include a stem of Phaleonopsis that would cost me $9 and only mark them up to $18. It's that glorious stem of orchid that makes an ordinary bunch of tulips spectacular. I would rather spend twice the amount on some amazing tulips like parrots then small normal tulips, the few extra bucks you spend greatly increases the wow factor which I believe translates into greater perceived value. Sometimes I may have an event that requires 60 centerpieces that I have proposed and provided a prototype for my clients approval months in advance. It may consist of a hydrangea that I paid $1.85 for. Point is that when the project actually comes down to procuring the flowers I will look and negotiate that hydrangea for $1.25 or better, the art of negotiation. I look for these savings that I would not have considered as a source of income.
When it comes to a filler, or green, we keep everything bunched. If a recipe calls for 1/5 of a bunch of wax, our designers know to visually gauge and split a bunch into 5. I think that this type of event production could make typical retail more productive and profitable. By creating seasonal products, one could prototype, prepare, price, procure, and produce a set number of diverse key arrangements based on educated estimate for the following week or two. I just think there is so much more control this way rather then relying on a designer to translate your products based on the description and price noted on a piece of paper. To much time wasted on trying to create something based on pricing. That same designer can make 10 arrangements in a production set up as fast as they can 1 because it should take the same amount of prep time to do both. And if a designer can produce enough key arrangements in one day to cover the week, why employ that person full time? I would rather cut a full time wage on a designer to make a weeks worth of product and spend it on a quality salesperson, or train that designer to become a quality salesperson.
All I'm saying is that we are dealing with perishable that move quickly. Trying to keep everything to the penny is a waste of resources and time. It might behoove you to try it. Start with a typical category of arrangement say your $30 mixed bouquets in glass. Create your recipe based on whats plentiful, hot, and fresh, based on 5 or 10 stems. Negotiate best price with your sources and procure. When the flowers come in, prepare and produce and display the inventory. Work off of that inventory. Work smart not hard. They may be the same product, same look, same quantity, but you know that it is a money maker, and your quality salesperson can make that money maker sound like the perfect gift for any occasion over the phone. Plus by having weekly prototypes on your e=commerce website will win confidence with customers because the product they are selecting will look exactly like the picture.
