Flower shop customer survey 2022 (English version)

The Council for Japanese Flower Production and Distribution Enhancement has conducted a flower shop user survey across Japan.
This is a full fledge, original survey on flower shop users’ purchase behaviours and evaluations throughout major Japanese flower retail formats. Flower/plant retailers surveyed include Hibiya Kadan, Aoyama Flower Market (AFM), Specialty florists (as a category), AEON, supermarkets, Cainz, Home improvement centres, Net shops, and compound shops.
Here, outlets that sell flowers/plants together with other items such as clothes and cafes are collectively referred to as “compound (hybrid) shops”. Given the new entrants from other sectors gaining momentum in flower retailing in Japan, capturing this emerging trend is one of the focuses of this study.
Funded by a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF).
Link to PDF with tables and figures.

Key findings

1. Purchase behaviour

• Overall, 48% of the respondents buy flowers and plants for home use, 39% for gifts, and 23% for religious offerings for the deceased. Supermarkets are characterized by heavy reliance (approx.40%) on specific items for customary religious offerings.
• Average customer spending（ACS）per visit stands at 2,169 yen (equivalent to 15.5 USD. 1 USD=139 yen). The ACS at supermarkets is 868 yen.
• Flower specialty shops have the highest ratio of steady clientele who “always use the shop” (16%).
• Customers of Hibiya Kadan, Aoyama Flower Market (AFM), and compound shops share a strong fondness for flowers and plants (each around 30%).
  
  

What customers buy

2. Customer evaluations

• This research employs the following 8 Customer Satisfaction (CS) related indices: Comprehensive customer satisfaction, need fulfilment, quality perception, cost-performance, emotional fulfilment, repeat purchase intention (customer loyalty), affinity with the shop (inner loyalty), and willingness to recommend.
• On average, general specialist florists enjoy the highest overall satisfaction rate of 7.5 on a 10-point scale. The ratio of the most satisfied customers (TOP2, the sum of those who rated 9 or 10) is greater at Hibiya Kadan (31%), followed by compound shops (21%).
• In terms of cost performance, general florists (7.3) and Hibiya Kadan (7.2) receive excellent ratings.　Supermarkets, where ACS is at the cheapest, suffer from the lowest marks (6.2).
• Supermarkets earn a low mark for quality perception, too (6.0). They should prioritize quality assessment improvement first. Otherwise, it would be difficult to appeal cost performance, i.e., value or pricing vis-a-vis quality. As some users say in free answers, “flowers are wilting at the storefront, being left uncared-for”.
  

3. The rise of hybrid, compound shops

• In this research, it has become evident that compound shops outperform existing traditional flower retailers in some areas. Their CS scores of overall satisfaction, emotional fulfilment, and inner loyalty are close to the levels of Japan’s top florist brands.
• Text analysis of open-ended answers on good points suggests that in many cases, what compound shops offers are more of “service experiences” than “plants (goods)” per se.
• Their hybrid nature has the potential to expand “points of contact” with flowers/plants to prospective customers currently using other categories such as apparel and books, who would otherwise remain untouched.
  
  

4. “Seasonal flowers” taken as the most telling image of sustainability among Japanese

• The elements that evoke ecologically friendly association are “seasonal” flowers/plants (28%), followed by “organic/naturally grown” (24%) and “locally grown” (23%). Seasonal flowers/plants are rooted in Japanese climate and culture and seem to be naturally recognized as having low environmental/socio-economical loads.
  
  

Survey overview

Objectives

This survey was planned with the aim of obtaining an overview of the purchasing behaviour and evaluations of Japanese flower shop customers across major retail formats. Such marketing data for benchmarking has been scarce in the Japanese flower industry which is dominated by small and medium-sized entities. Some leading chain stores are included so as to make it easier to get clues for benchmarking. Ranking companies is not the purpose of this research.

Funding

This project was entirely funded by a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and carried out by the Council for Japanese Flower Production and Distribution Enhancement (previously known as the Japan Flower Vase Life Improvement Council). The Council secretariat is located at MPS Japan, a certification body.

Japanese flower stores surveyed

Nine retailers were selected.

• Hibiya Kadan, Aoyama Flower Market (AFM), and flower specialty stores
• AEON, supermarkets
• CAINZ, Home centers
• Net shops
• Compound shops
  
  

Respondents

A total of 1005 men and women in their 20s to 50s living in Japan, who have made purchases at least once during the recent 1 year at one of the 9 retailers surveyed.
Date and method: January 31 to February 2, 2022. Internet survey.

Contents

Purchase frequency, average customer spending（ACS）, purchased items, reasons for use, and level of affection (involvement) toward flowers and plants.
Customer satisfaction evaluations.
Good points and areas to be improved of the store (free description).
Images associated with sustainabile flowers/plants.

Customer Satisfaction Index

Eight indicators are measured, each on a scale where 10 is perfection.
(1) Comprehensive customer satisfaction, (2) need fulfilment, (3) quality perception, (4) cost-performance, (5) emotional fulfilment, (6) repeat purchase intention (customer loyalty), (7) affinity with the shop (inner loyalty) and (8) willingness to recommend

Retailers surveyed and demographics of respondents

Links

• Executive summary of the report (English version)
  website
  PDF with tables and figures
• Full report (in Japanese. Try machine translation if necessary.)
  PDF download

Recommended Citation (example)

Aoki, Kyoko (2022). Flower shop customer survey: Purchasing behaviour and customer evaluations by retail format. Council for Japanese Flower Production and Distribution Enhancement.

Appendix

Table Overview of the companies surveyed

Note: Company-wide data.

Source: Based on company websites and other sources.

DISCLAIMER: The author reserves the right not to be responsible for any liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided.