If you forgot today was Valentine’s Day, you’re hardly alone (though if you don’t do something now, you might be alone for more than just today).
What to do for a last-minute, last-ditch sign of affection? Buy something online, obviously. A neighbourhood retailer in China reported on Monday that Valentine’s Day flower sales increased by five-fold, with purchases of roses increasing by 20-fold, via its on-demand online retail platform.
Missfresh Ltd. (NASDAQ: MF, Forum) released data from 2017 to 2020, that found that China's e-commerce flower market grew from RMB 23.55 billion ($3.7 billion USD) to RMB 72.06 billion ($11.33 billion USD), with a compound annual growth rate of 32.26%.
In addition to roses on Valentine’s Day, sales of carnations for Mother's Day, Christmas trees for Christmas, and a range of New Year's Eve flowers during the Spring Festival have all contributed to Missfresh's sales.
Leading the company’s flower business is Bo Qi, who in
a media release on this news, acknowledged that Missfresh has also had to solve supply chain challenges that come with the flower business.
“Flowers are fragile, have a short shelf life, place high demands on transportation, and have low levels of standardization. The pain point in the flower business lies in the supply chain and cold chain transportation.”
Online retail has seen a recent spike in business on “special days” such as Valentine’s Day that have a high consumer angle. Do you indulge in online shopping for that special someone to save time? Let us know how that works out for you in the comments below.