Dutch auction Plantion reports a turnover of €114.5 million in flower and plant sales

Photo credit: VVB van Bree.

EDE, Netherlands: Dutch auction house Plantion reports a turnover of €114.5 million in flower and plant sales for 2021, an increase of 8.6 per cent over the previous year.

Plantion can look back on an eventful and ‘innovative’ year. On 25 October, the auction switched on what it says is “the first large format Light Emitting Diode (LED) display at a flower auction with unparalleled  resolution and image quality”.

With a new LED screen of 84 m2 in the bidding hall, Plantion continues to believe in the power of physical auctions. Plantion also expects online services to grow over the coming years. But retailers and wholesalers also want to “see, smell and feel” the products, meet colleagues and find inspiration in the marketplace.

Such innovations haven’t been limited to the auction room. The auction announced new hires and launched a follow-up version of its Plantion Digital Marketplace webshop. Similarly, Plantion revamped its corporate website.

Plantion found a new partner in Garden Retail Service (GRS) as its preferred supplier. GRS is a purchasing organisation for over 150 garden centres in the Netherlands and Belgium. A collective labour agreement was also reached with the AVV trade union.

Connecting

New in 2021 was a series of regional meetings held for Plantion suppliers to increase membership involvement. However, amid a rise of Covid’s Delta and Omicron variants, Plantion was forced to cancel a number of meetings scheduled for the last months of 2021.

Inspiring

To inspire customers for special days, Plantion developed promotional actions with thematic cards and content for social media. Plantion teamed up with Dutch floristry organisation VBW in Livestream workshops and the VBW Flowercup and the Junior Masters flower arranging.

All throughout the year, there were inspiring product presentations, peaking at a ‘Meet & Greet’ with twelve Dutch rose growers. The ‘Shopping evening XL’ in November, in association with Groothandelscentrum Plantion, was a fitting and inspiring end of the year.

Revenue forecast 2022

For 2022, Plantion anticipates a 10 per cent growth in turnover and a significant increase in the use of Plantion’s Remote Buying, and Auction Presales systems plus more traffic for the auction’s webshop in combination with Plantion’s delivery service.

Investment

In 2022, Plantion will invest in logistics services such as transport, repackaging and labelling. Various ICT systems are currently being updated, and the auction is expanding the use of modern means of communication. Plantion is also looking into the possibilities of mechanising distribution with, for example, a sorting system. Customers are being inspired and supported in their local marketing, for instance through the Taste the Green platform and with promotional packages around special days.

Plantion

Plantion is an attractive and complete marketplace that florists, retailers and wholesalers – whether they are online or offline – can turn to 24/7 for flowers and plants, as well as a personal, customer-focused service. After all, innovation, inspiration and connection are the characteristics that allow Plantion to stand out from the rest in the horticultural sector. For more information, see: www.plantion.nl/en/