Ecommerce share of floral industry Europe: 30% in 2027

There is a future for online sales of flowers and plants, especially towards men. The market share of ecommerce in Europe’s spending on flowers and plants currently ranges from 3 percent in Germany to 14 percent in the UK, but the Dutch Rabobank expects this share will grow to 30 percent by 2027.

This is one of the conclusions from Rabobank’s recent report [pdf] about the floriculture in the Netherlands and Europe. The bank is optimistic about the opportunities in the Dutch floriculture. “The generally improved purchasing power has led to more demand and with regards to consumer spending on flowers and plants in Europe, an annual growth of 2 percent is expected”, the bank writes.

Millennials love to buy flowers online

One of the things Rabobank noticed, is that the consumer has become less predictable. Sometimes he wants something good for a low price, while the other time he wants something special without worrying about the price. The market of flowers and plants has changed a lot in the last few years, because now millennials are also buying these products and they do this increasingly online. This is also shown by the fact that in 2015, online spending on flowers and plants in the United Kingdom already accounted for 14 percent of total spending on these products.

More and more younger consumers now want to buy flowers. In the Netherlands in 2010, 32 percent of all purchases in this sector was done by someone aged 39 years or younger. But in 2016, this share had increased already to 60 percent.

Ecommerce share can grow to 30 percent

According to Rabobank, ecommerce will gain some serious market share in the coming years. Whereas the current market share of the online channel is now somewhere between 3 and 14 percent in Europe, growth figures from major online stores such as Interflora, Fleurop and Euroflorist suggest that this share can grow to 30 percent in the next ten years.

The bank also claims there’s a strong correlation between the increase in purchase power and the growth of spending on flowers and plants. Based on data from these two factors, Rabobank expects that the global consumption value of flowers and plants will grow by almost 50 percent in the next ten years. During the same period, the consumption value in Europe will increase with about 20 percent.