A price rise that only happened in the wholesaler's invoice
In February, the wholesaler's price for red roses climbs. So does the cost of many other stems, and the delivery surcharge. Your website still shows the same price for the dozen red roses it showed in January.
You meant to update it. You have fifty products, some with several sizes, and changing each one by hand on a Sunday evening is slow. By the time you get round to it, plenty of orders have already been placed at the old price, some for delivery on the fourteenth.
Worse, some customers ordered weeks ago for delivery on the fourteenth, at the January price, when you will be buying stems at the February price.
Why prices lag behind costs
Prices are set per product, but costs change per stem. Without product recipes, you cannot easily see which products are hit hardest when a particular stem goes up.
Most websites price by the date of the order, not the date of delivery. An order for Valentine's Day placed in January pays the January price, even though the flowers will be bought in February.
Changing prices by hand across many products is tedious and easy to get wrong, so it is left until too late, or done once and forgotten when prices fall again.
What lagging prices cost
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Prices unchanged at peak | Margins squeezed on the busiest days |
| Price set by order date | Early peak orders sold below cost |
| Manual price edits | Errors and time spent on Sunday evenings |
| No recipe costing | Cannot see which products lose most |
| Peak prices left on | Customers overcharged after the peak |
How you price is your commercial decision. The point is being able to put that decision into effect without editing every product by hand.
Relay and marketplace orders complicate the picture, because their prices are set by the network, not by you. On peak days, the value you receive for a relay order may not reflect what the stems cost you that week. Knowing the true cost of each product lets you decide how much relay work to accept on the busiest days, instead of discovering afterwards that some of it cost more to make than it earned.
How we set peak prices by delivery date
- Each product has a recipe of stems, sundries and labour, set up with your florists.
- Stem costs are kept in a price list you update, or read from wholesaler invoices, so each product's cost is calculated automatically.
- A margin view shows each product's cost and price, and highlights where a stem price rise has pushed margin below your target.
- Peak price rules are set by delivery date: for example, deliveries from the 12th to the 14th of February use peak prices, whenever the order was placed.
- Prices switch automatically for the dates you choose, and switch back afterwards.
- The checkout shows the price for the chosen delivery date clearly, so customers see what they pay before they order.
Whether and how much to raise prices at peak is your decision, and how you display them must follow the rules on price display. We build the tools to apply your policy consistently.
We start with your peak products and your wholesaler's recent invoices, so the first margin view shows the products that matter most at Valentine's and Mother's Day. Everyday products can be added later, once the recipes for the busy ones are in place.
Prices that keep pace
When the wholesaler's prices rise in February, you update the stem price list. The margin view shows which products need a change. Peak prices are already set for the right delivery dates and switch back automatically.
- Product costs calculated from recipes and stem prices
- Margins visible by product
- Peak prices applied by delivery date
- Prices switching back after the peak
Signs your prices are behind your costs
- You change website prices by hand before peak days.
- Early peak orders are charged at the normal price.
- You do not know the cost of each product.
- Stem price rises squeeze your peak-day margins.
- Peak prices have stayed on the website too long.