Florists

How we worked it out

Average monthly saving

£139

£1,669 a year

In year five, every month

£281

Over five years

£8,343

Price creep over time

Every supplier's prices rise with the market. Price creep is the extra on top: overcharging, smaller packs and rises nobody questions. Supplee shows you the cheapest price across your suppliers, so you pay what the market charges and not the creep. Fresh flower prices change week to week with the season and the grade, so creep is harder to spot than on fixed-price stock.

Without Supplee: market price plus creep (2.5% a year in all) With Supplee: you pay the market price (1% a year)

How much more than the market price you pay each month. The shaded area is what avoidable creep costs. Hover or tap the graph to see any month.

The numbers we used

Input	Symbol	Value	Source
Annual turnover of a typical independent	$T$	£100,000	UK florist turnover tiers (small £25k–£80k, mid-size £80k–£250k); many micro florists turn over under £83k
Share of turnover spent with suppliers	$p$	42% (35% flowers and foliage, 7% sundries such as wraps, ribbon, foam and boxes)	Standard florist markups: 3–3.5× on flowers, 2× on sundries
Market price inflation	$i$	1.0% a year	Dutch auction prices for Q3 2026: cut flowers −0.3%, plants +4.4% (Royal FloraHolland)
Avoidable price creep	$c$	1.5% a year	Our estimate: overcharging, short stem counts, lower grades and unchallenged rises
Typical time with one supplier	$N$	60 months (5 years)	RestaurantOwner purchasing survey of 550+ independent operators (hospitality; assumed the same for florists)

The working

1Monthly supplier spend

S = \frac{T \times p}{12}

S = \frac{£100 , 000 \times 0.42}{12} = £3, 500.00 a month

2Monthly price growth

The yearly rates are converted to monthly rates: market prices only, and market prices plus creep.

m_{m} = (1 + i)^{1/12} - 1 m_{t} = (1 + i + c)^{1/12} - 1

m_{m} = (1.01)^{1/12} - 1 = 0.0830% a month

m_{t} = (1.025)^{1/12} - 1 = 0.2060% a month

3Extra cost in any month k

Market inflation affects every supplier, so it isn't counted as a saving. Only the gap between the two price paths is.

C_{k} = S [(1 + m_{t})^{k} - (1 + m_{m})^{k}]

4Total and average over the supplier cycle

Add up every month from 1 to 60, then divide by 60.

Average monthly saving = \frac{1}{60} k = 1 \sum 60 C_{k} \approx £139

5Worked example: the cost in month 60

C_{60} = £3, 500.00 \times [(1.025)^{5} - (1.01)^{5}]

= £3, 500.00 \times (1.13141 - 1.05101) = £3, 500.00 \times 0.08040 \approx £281

Results

Point in time	Extra cost that month	Total lost so far
Month 1	£4.31	£4.31
End of year 1	£53	£339
End of year 2	£107	£1,321
End of year 3	£163	£2,966
End of year 4	£221	£5,299
End of year 5	£281	£8,343
Average monthly saving: £8,343 ÷ 60		£139.05, about £139 a month (£1,669 a year)

Low, central and high cases

The same sums for a smaller and a larger shop, with less and more creep.

	Low	Central	High
Annual turnover	£60k	£100k	£180k
Share spent with suppliers	35%	42%	50%
Avoidable creep	0.5%	1.5%	3%
Monthly supplier spend	£1,750	£3,500	£7,500
Average monthly saving over 5 years	£23	£139	£607
Total over 5 years	£1,374	£8,343	£36,394

These are modelled estimates for a typical UK independent florist. Your savings depend on your spend and suppliers.