Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) Valentine’s Day means great business for flower and greeting card sellers. And this year has not been disappointing.
Flower sellers across India are expected to notch up business worth Rs.15 crore ($3 million) on V-Day and its eve, while the greeting card industry, too, has witnesses a huge spike in sales in the days leading up to Feb 14.

“Valentine’s Day is our main sales season. If we also get a wedding on the same day, it is icing on the cake. You just can’t imagine the business flower sellers do during this season,” said Birju Bhai Pradhan, founder and president of Birju Flower group.

“In fact it is gets better than the marriage season because in just one day we earn in millions,” Pradhan told IANS.

“Our business figure shoots up 100 percent on V-Day. Red roses have always been popular among lovers and one can’t just imagine how much red roses sell on this particular day. The sales are massive.”

According to Pradhan, the wholesale flower industry across India notched around Rs.15 crore on Feb 13 and Feb 14 last year and expects the same kind of business this year as well — flowers, though relatively cheaper, have more buyers.

According to Dheeraj Agarwal of flower boutique chain Ferns ‘N’ Petals, sales of flowers on V-Day just gets better every year. “Every year we see around 4-5 percent increase in the flower business on V-Day,” he said.

But it is not flowers alone. People also like to pen their thoughts and express their feelings through greeting cards. And Youhan Aria, head of corporate communication of Archies, India’s largest card chain, says sale have picked up considerably.

“We witness 15-16 percent rise in our sales much before V-Day — say a fortnight before. The cards are available in all our outlets by the first week of January. Major selling of V-Day cards happen Feb 12-14,” Aria said.

This year, Archies has 187 V-Day cards — five of them especially for gays.

The cards industry in India is worth Rs.60-65 crore, of which Archies has a 80-percent market share, said Aria, adding people also shop for other gifts for their valentines such as perfumes, watches, chocolates, wine glasses, lingerie among others.

“We are already seeing a huge increase in business since the beginning of the month. It grows by more than 100 percent during this period,” Ishita Swarup, chief executive and co-founder of online shopping portal 99labels.com, told IANS.

Online portal Myntra’s chief executive Mukesh Bansal, whose company specialises in personalised gifts, shares the same sentiment.

“For Valentine’s Day, people are always on the lookout for something special and unique to their beloved. We see revenue grow 3-4 times during this season. Our Valentine’s Day products are biggest contributors to our business in February,” said Bansal.