Online Orchid sales in Asia: consumers in the driver's seat
Thanks to their exotic looks and luxurious appearance, orchids play at the top of the league in the ornamentals sector. Having the opportunity to work with them every day is, therefore, an absolute privilege. The orchid genome is often cited as the largest in the plant world. This means there are almost limitless technical possibilities in orchid breeding (if you have the luxury of time). However, this also presents a significant risk. Is there really a demand for the many hundreds of varieties marketed by the orchid sector? As a breeder and grower, you are likely to say ‘yes!’ — you know how much engineering expertise and effort we all put into our products.
Nevertheless, it’s a question worth considering, especially given the rise of online marketplaces. These are opening up the sales landscape, making the market ever more transparent, with consumers increasingly in the driver’s seat. This can produce some odd situations: a 9-cm pot fetching a higher price than a 12-cm pot, or a Phalaenopsis with a small number of flowers but a unique colour selling for more than a standard variety.
Online marketplaces
We have seen a significant global increase in sales through online marketplaces, particularly in Asia. Some Asian growers now sell more than 500,000 orchids a year on platforms such as TikTok, WeChat and Alibaba. How will the rise in online sales influence the supply side?
First, online stores and livestreaming will expose consumers to a broader range of colours and shapes. This will enable us to learn about consumers' true preferences and needs more quickly and effectively. Second, online sales will require a reconsideration of logistics. We must ensure our products can withstand jolts and bumps (which means shorter flower stems and no horizontal branches), as well as cold and heat. Breeders will have to work harder to achieve a high rate of success.
Responding to consumer demand
These developments have made both breeders and growers realise that we require deeper insights into consumer demand and need to ensure our response is even more targeted. The uptick in online orchid sales is shedding more light on consumer preferences and creating opportunities that we, as breeders, cannot afford to miss. That’s why we carefully analyse global trends in terms of colour, lifestyle, work and leisure and always aim to think outside the box.
The right person at the right moment
But success isn’t guaranteed just because you have developed a new variety or concept that aligns with consumer preferences at a given moment. Rather, your product needs to reach the person it was designed or developed for. And that is where there is room for improvement: the point of sale does not always offer the product that fully meets the wants and needs of its specific customer. Only with a perfect match can we maximise market potential. Many opportunities still exist if we continue to devote time and energy to realising them.
