Lessons From The Flower Industry on Adapting to Online Sales

With the advent of the internet becoming the primary shopping mode for most of the world in 2020, industries such as the floral industry have also shifted their traditional business platforms online as well. Interestingly, the flower industry has been doing pretty well in the e-commerce sector of late. Let’s look at how the online flower shops and the broader flower industry has strategically adapted to selling flowers online further.

Outstanding Quality at an Affordable Price

With a rise in the number of flower shops online, competition in the online floral market has reached high levels and has consequently increased the expectations of consumers of the floral market. Thus, outstanding quality seems to be the primary focus for all online flower shops to remain relevant in this expanding market. However, the promise of great quality is simply not enough to entice consumers, as affordability plays an important role in capturing the interest of the target audience, especially since there are hundreds of stores that offer almost the same flowers at various prices.

Thus, one of the main moves the flower industry has made for its success in the online platform is to introduce various floral bundles or packages that come at different prices. These bundles are obviously cheaper than the traditional mode of purchasing flowers separately for any occasion.

Thus, online buyers have the option of buying a bundle which gives them the benefit of ordering a bulk at a discounted rate. These bundles also have the option of being customized in most online stores, thereby increasing the interest of the consumer by giving him or her the option of picking out the flowers and color scheme while still availing the discounted price.

Various Marketing Strategies

An online business can’t thrive without excellent marketing strategies and the flower industry seems to have developed its own in the course of time. With flowers being the most sought-after gifts on occasions such as Valentine’s and Mother’s Day, floral businesses have figured out various combo offers that seem to increase sales on these particular days.

For example, many online flower shops seem to have collaborated with other businesses that sell chocolates and cakes for such occasions as Mother’s day and whatnot. Consumers can then purchase a combined offer of a bundle of roses and a box of chocolates when sending gifts to their loved ones. This strategy has proved successful in the floral industry as a whole.

Subscription-Based Services

Like many other businesses, the flower industry has also adopted the use of subscription-based business models, where regular consumers have the option of subscribing to the services of the business on a monthly or yearly basis. This method worked well for the industry since flowers are purchased as a mandatory gift for certain happy and solemn occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Thus, with the right prices that give the consumer the advantage of spending comparatively lesser when subscribing to this service, floral subscription services will enable the business to receive a definite sum of money each month or year from subscribed consumers, without having to go out of their way to market and drive traffic to their business on a regular basis.

These models help the business function on autopilot in terms of sales and also allow it to have a solid amount of money that comes in each month, which is a bonus for any business.