Waitrose axes online flower shop

Blooms less affordable because of cost of living crisis and high inflation

Waitrose has axed its online flower shop amid a growing trend of people favouring wine and chocolate over blooms as gifts.
The supermarket said it has closed Waitrose Florist, its flower-delivery service, to free up funds for other parts of the business.
Waitrose Florist, which launched in 2009, was the supermarket’s dedicated platform for flowers, plants and vases.
In an email to customers on Friday morning, the supermarket announced that the service had closed, saying: “We are sorry for any inconvenience caused, and thank you for shopping with Florist.”
Customers can still buy flowers, albeit a more limited offering, in Waitrose stores and through the main Waitrose online delivery service.
It has insisted the decision is not a reflection on the popularity of the florist service.
However, the move comes amid a consumer shift away from sending flowers to mark birthdays, anniversaries and other events, as alternative gift options surge in popularity.
It is understood that the supermarket has diverted some of the funds from Waitrose Florist into Waitrose Cellar, a similar platform for beers, wine and spirits.
Clare Bailey, expert and author of The Retail Champion, said that Waitrose had been competing against better-established florists online, such as Interflora, while many consumers now “use the Moonpigs of this world where you can buy cards, chocolates and champagne, so sending gifts to mark an occasion has moved beyond just flowers”.
The Covid pandemic supercharged online flower sales when lockdowns forced people to shop almost exclusively online, according to market research firm IbisWorld. Digital florists experienced a significant boost in revenue and profit over the period.
But sales have fallen over the past two years as flowers have become less affordable amid the cost of living crisis and high inflation rates, causing a return to pre-pandemic levels, IbisWorld said.
At the same time, alternative gifts such as greeting cards and chocolates have boomed, the firm said, with the online greetings card industry in the UK this year recording an all-time-high annual revenue.
In the run-up to Christmas last year, The Grocer reported that confectionery had suffered the greatest sales decline in terms of impulse purchases, but people had not cut back on buying chocolate as a gift.
Mondelez, which owns Nestle, noted an 8.7 per cent increase in the sales of boxed chocolates.
Global online wine sales also saw an unprecedented surge during the pandemic. While this tailed off last year, Guy Wolfe, head of ecommerce insights at beverage industry research firm IWSR, told Forbes that global online wine sales in 2023 were still nearly 40 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
A Waitrose spokesman said that no staff had been made redundant from the closure of Waitrose Florists, and that two people who worked for the service “had been offered suitable alternative roles”.
He said: “This move allows us to focus our investment in our core business. This includes offering exciting, quality foods that our customers love, while strengthening our support for British farmers.
“Customers can still purchase plants and flowers from our branches and Waitrose.com.”