Rebound in demand for Chinese New Year plants, but increased competition could weigh on sales
While some of these blooms may see a slight delay of two weeks, they are expected to arrive just in time for Chinese New Year.
SINGAPORE: Nurseries in Singapore are seeing a rebound in demand for Chinese New Year plants to levels from before the COVID-19 pandemic, but increased competition could weigh on their sales.
This comes as families start sprucing up their homes with seasonal plants as the festive season approaches.
While some of these blooms may see a slight delay of two weeks, they are expected to arrive just in time for Chinese New Year.
ADEQUATE STOCK OF CHINESE NEW YEAR PLANTS
For instance, nurseries here are relieved that they have adequate numbers of the Dragon Heart Lime plants in stock.
The Dragon Heart Lime, which symbolises prosperity and luck, is a top selling plant for the Lunar New Year.
“The quality is quite good this year,” said World Farm Nursery assistant sales manager Ng Keng Guan.
World Farm Nursery has two branches, located in Jurong and Sungei Tengah.
“Because (during) certain years, they don't turn so ripe at this time. So this year, they are on track with the timing for oranges.”
However, brick-and-mortar nurseries such as World Farm are concerned that the strong demand may not translate into higher revenue, especially with more online retailers entering the fray.
“The main challenge that we have now is that there are more sellers in the market. They sell the same things. The prices are more competitive. It's always unhealthy to actually lower the price. If you want to do a price war, it's never ending,” said Mr Ng.
“As usual, every year, the cost price goes up. This is something that everyone faces.
“So we are actually facing difficulties on the pricing. If we increase it by too much, the consumers will not buy it, because these are after all non-essential items, people can do without it. So we try to keep the price stable.”
NEW WAYS TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS
The nurseries are still coming up with ways to keep their tills ringing, despite feeling the heat.
World Farm, for example, is enhancing its product offerings through ways such as additional ornaments, deliveries at a discount and disposal services to raise sales.
“Consumers are always willing to pay for something that other places do not have. So for us, we do have enough lorries and manpower to actually cope with this.”
Most of the customers shopping for Chinese New Year plants only visit nurseries once a year, said Mr Ng.
“So when we offer them saying (we) can help to add on the ribbons and disposal at this cost, a lot of them are quite surprised. It's an ad-hoc thing for them. So that actually helps to push more sales,” he said.
Meanwhile, larger nurseries including Far East Flora, which also has a presence in Malaysia and Hong Kong, are hosting activities such as Chinese calligraphy to attract younger customers looking to soak in the festivities.
Far East Flora managing director Alex Cheok said his stores are seeing younger people, and “their taste is quite different from the traditional kind of taste”.
“We do more promotion to entice customers to walk in and experience for themselves what is the atmosphere of buying a Chinese New Year plant,” he added.
One advantage brick-and-mortar stores have is that many customers would prefer to choose their plants on site, noted Mr Cheok.
Nurseries said they will continue to work on improving customers' shopping experiences, and are confident that these beautiful blooms will bring their shops a New Year boom.