Floristry

The Floristry sector sells cut flowers or display foliage. Businesses purchase flowers from growers and sell these directly to consumers, either as arrangements, wreaths, bouquets or cut flowers for vases. The sector also organises the storage and delivery of products.

What does this industry cover?

Florist shops have not changed much over the years but online flower shops have rapidly taken off. Some florists have both options available to capture all markets. Other online retailers take the orders and use a network of florists or growers to produce and deliver the arrangements.

Social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok are being used to promote floristry products. This has led to florists needing strong IT and digital literacy skills to ensure consumer satisfaction.

The floral emblems of Australia are: Western Australia - Red and Green Kangaroo Paw, South Australia - Stuart’s Desert Pea, Queensland - Cooktown Orchid, NSW - Waratah, Australian Capital Territory - Royal Bluebells, Northern Territory - Sturt’s Desert Rose, Tasmania - Tasmanian Blue Gum, Victoria - Common Heath and Australia’s national flower - Golden Wattle.

Job hunting preparation

Top Skills in demand: teamwork and communication, emotional intelligence, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility, self-management and creativity

Suggested job roles include: Floristry assistant, Florist, Senior Florist and Floral designer.

Those in the industry suggest that it would be best to contact an employer directly. It is a close knit industry and if that employer doesn’t have any opportunities they might know of someone who does.

To be a florist could involve very early starts such as 3am or 4am to find the best flowers from markets or wholesalers and have arrangements ready for delivery first thing in the morning. Floristry can be quite physical and you need to be fit as you could be lifting quite heavy floral arrangements, large vases and boxes of cut flowers.

Information for further research

Industry information is published by peak level associations, government and major employers. Accessing industry association sites, including member lists, is a good way of building up an understanding of an industry. Visiting employer websites and looking for careers or employment menus helps identify how employers recruit and the skills they are recruiting.