Our reporter Li Rushi Liu Zhao
With the arrival of "Valentine's Day" in 2023, the demand for flowers has surged for a short time.
On February 13, a reporter from "Securities Daily" visited Kunming Dounan Flower Market (hereinafter referred to as Dounan Flower Market), which is known as the "Asian Flower Capital". Every day, a large number of fresh cut flowers are sent from here to all parts of the country through logistics. .
Before entering the Dounan Flower Market, the road has been blocked by flower transport vehicles with the names of Debon Express, JD Cloud Cold Chain, and Zhongtong Cold Chain.
After entering the flower market area, the burst of people and the continuous flow of three-wheeled transport "float vehicles" flooded into the field of vision instantly, and there were still transport vehicles leaving the market at 8:00 pm.
Fresh cut flowers are in short supply
Dounan Flower Market is known as the "weather vane" of China's flower market and the "barometer" of flower prices.
Xun Yugen, chief economist and chief strategist at Haitong Securities, said that around the Spring Festival holiday, flower consumption in Dounan Flower Market has also picked up significantly, driving up both sales and prices of flowers.
This is also an important manifestation of the return of "fireworks".
According to KIFA (Kunming Flower Auction Center) data, the transaction volume from January 24 to February 8 reached 56.42 million, an increase of nearly 40% over the same period last year.
On the eve of "Valentine's Day", the supply of fresh cut flowers is in short supply. In addition, the logistics in various places have fully recovered, and the air transportation capacity has increased by 30%.
According to some flower merchants to the "Securities Daily" reporter: "The cheap and beautiful rose-like 'Little Rose' is a recent hot sale. It is named according to the color of each rose, lace, orange Barbie, avocado, "Lovely" flower names such as shooting star and chocolate have attracted many consumers. At the same time, the traditional big red roses still maintain the highest price market, and the price of roses is basically maintained at 35 yuan/bunch to 70 yuan/bunch."
Driven by the strong pull of "Valentine's Day", not only the market for roses continued to rise, but also the performance of matching flowers was also strong. The average price of baby's breath was around 44 yuan/kg, a year-on-year increase of 16.78%.
Sunflowers, eustomas and tulips are also very popular in the end market and performed well.
From "romantic economy" to "self-pleasure economy"
As the purchase of flowers has become more convenient and simple, consumers are no longer limited to buying flowers on specific festivals, but can buy them at any time in their daily life. Buying flowers more represents a leisure life style and "pleasure yourself" "Mood.
According to data from iiMedia Consulting, the scale of China's flower e-commerce market is expected to reach 127.91 billion yuan in 2023.
In recent years, the business of flower companies has continued to expand and the scene of flower consumption has been continuously enriched, attracting more potential consumers. In the future, the scale of the flower e-commerce market is expected to continue to expand.
Previously, the traditional flower sales and transportation mode was to transport the flowers won by Kunming Dounan Flower Auction Center to all parts of the country by dealers, and then sell them to local flower shops by dealers in various regions. Finally, after repackaging and bouquet design by the flower shop, Consumers make purchases.
Flower sales are now more "direct".
The reporter of "Securities Daily" learned that the logistics system of Dounan Flower Market is constantly speeding up, changing from the single road transportation in the past to air transportation, high-speed rail transportation and other methods.
The development of e-commerce, especially WeChat mini-programs and live broadcasts, has greatly boosted the daily flower market, making flowers a daily consumer product.
Gao Jin, an analyst at Toubao Research Institute, said, "In recent years, the rapid development of China's cold chain industry has provided infrastructure for the 'availability' of flowers, and diversified retail channels have endorsed the 'easy availability' of flowers. At the same time, consumers are paying more and more attention to emotional value, and consumers are more 'willing to get' flowers. Against this background, China's flower consumption is showing a transformation from gift consumption to daily consumption."
With the rise of the "self-pleaser economy", flowers have also become a new growth point for e-commerce platforms.
"Make yourself happy" has become the focus of flower consumption, and flower e-commerce companies have taken advantage of the momentum to launch various consumption models to meet consumers' needs for self-pleasure.
The demand in the flower market is gradually increasing, consumers are more and more willing to consume flowers, and flower consumption is heating up year by year.
In addition to festive flower consumption, the current household flower consumption market is also growing rapidly, and is expected to become a new growth point for the flower market in the future.
At the same time, consumers' requirements for the quality of flowers are also constantly improving.
According to KIFA data, the market for high-quality flowers has remained unabated since February 6, and the price of low-quality flowers has gradually decreased since February 9, and the price difference between different grades of flowers has gradually widened.
In terms of industry classification, the flower planting industry is included in the advantageous and characteristic planting and breeding industry.
In terms of industrial production, the government encourages the establishment of a mechanized technical equipment system and a socialized service system for the flower industry to scientifically guide the development of the industry.
In addition, relevant government departments support foreign investment in the flower industry, and at the same time encourage the establishment and development of characteristic flower planting bases, which is conducive to stimulating the development and innovation of China's flower industry industry chain.
Smooth logistics and transportation
With the development of fresh food e-commerce, the cold chain system has flourished with the support of a series of policies, which has driven the reform of the flower logistics system.
In order to allow flowers to reach consumers as soon as possible, the logistics system of Dounan Flower Market is also upgrading and speeding up, shifting from single road transportation to air, high-speed rail transportation and other methods.
Relevant data show that in 2022, the annual transaction volume of Dounan Flower Industrial Park will hit a new high. The transaction volume of fresh cut flowers will exceed 11 billion branches, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%, and the transaction volume will exceed 12.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.04%.
Debon Express is one of the main carriers of Dounan Flower Market. The staff of Debon Express told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "Facing the surge in flower orders in Dounan Flower Market, Debon Express is committed to providing customers with fast delivery. service, and focus on solving the pain points caused by insufficient collection capacity.”
In addition, fresh cut flowers have very high requirements on delivery time. If the delivery time is too long, there will be wilting and other phenomena, which will seriously affect subsequent sales.
In this regard, many customers of Dounan Flower Market are very cautious when choosing express delivery, and regard express delivery timeliness and packaging as the most important considerations.
In order to ensure efficiency, Deppon Express mainly adopts the next-day delivery business for large items by air for local customers. Orders can be delivered at 1:30 in the morning and can be delivered to major cities across the country within 24 hours.
Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iiMedia Consulting, told the reporter of Securities Daily, "Thanks to the development of the logistics industry, the flower sales area of Dounan Flower Market has been gradually expanded, and Dounan Flower Market has a large-scale logistics industry today. It is believed that with the advancement of logistics technology, the flowers produced in Yunnan will cross the ocean and reach more consumers." (Securities Daily)