“Flowers don’t tell; they show.”
-Stephanie Skeem
Rom-coms have swooned people over with grand gestures like proposals at the Eiffel Tower or simple ones like sending flowers to their partners.
And, today the online flower business is a multi-million dollar industry. North America’s cut flower market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4% by 2027 and millennials are the driving force for this growth.
Modern consumers expect everything on-demand. And, flowers are climbing on the list of items consumers want on-demand. The post-pandemic era presents an excellent opportunity for florists to go digital and expand their market reach.
Convenience and a seamless delivery experience are key to a successful online flower delivery business. So, if you are looking to start an online flower delivery business, here’s a short guide to get you started.
Why is it lucrative to launch an online flower delivery business?
- It is a gender-neutral business free from any stereotypes
- You can start small and invest more money as you grow the business
- It does not require technically proficient teams
- There are no substantial barriers to entry
- Flowers are everywhere, and you can bring all small flower businesses to your platform
- Flowers are an integral part of everyone’s lives, and no occasion is complete without them
Starting and Online Flower Delivery Business
1. Focus on Branding
A good product does exactly what it says on the tin. In the case of an online flower delivery business, you need to choose a brand name that explains your business instantly. Incorporate the brand name within the logo to add that minimalist yet stylish look to your brand.
2. Do Your Homework
Keep your customers close and your competitors closer. Deep dive into your competitors’ websites, apps, and services they offer.
Analyze customer reviews and identify opportunities your business can capitalize on. This will help you create your USP.
3. Create a User-Friendly Interface
Whether you choose to run your business through a website or a mobile app, or both, easy navigation is the key to winning new customers. Nobody wants to waste time on a clunky and cluttered website or app where they cannot find what they are looking for.
4. Offer Multiple Payment Options
The reliance on cash is diminishing every day, and you need to offer multiple payment methods on your online flower delivery platforms. Offer secure transactions through debit cards, credit cards, internet banking, and digital wallets to offer more convenience to the customers.
You can also create your app-exclusive wallets to offer cashback points to encourage customers to make repeat purchases from your brand.
5. Start Marketing and Branding Activities
If you keep waiting for the right time to market your brand, you will never establish yourself as a leading brand in the hypercompetitive environment. So instead, keep marketing your business from day one and focus on creating brand awareness in the first few months of your business.
You have to get your brand out there as fast as possible. However, you might also come across a few pitfalls in the process, so the sooner you start, the better campaigns you can have in the future.
6. Listen to Your Customers
Many entrepreneurs fail to consider their customers’ feedback and continue running their business with the initial vision.
The best way to improve your business is to address customer feedback. Not only will it help you fix the existing flaws in your business, but it will also help you stumble upon new features to attract more customers in the future.
But Wait. There is More!
Selling flowers at the best prices is great, but their experience with the brand is not complete. Not yet!
Many entrepreneurs ignore a crucial aspect when delivering the packages ordered from their platform – Logistics.
Imagine this; a customer ordered fresh white lilies from your online store. However, there is no visibility on the order status and no means to communicate with your delivery agent or your business.
What was meant to be a special surprise will now remain a bad memory in their life, and you will lose a customer on the back of a single bad experience.
So, what is the solution?
Integrate your ordering platform with an intuitive and easy-to-deploy delivery management software like NetworkON.
How Will NetworkON Help Your Online Flower Delivery Business?
NetworkON uses robust AI capabilities to automate and optimize the delivery arm of your business. Apart from providing seamless communication between your sellers, delivery partners, and customers, NetworkON helps you in reducing your operational costs and delivers a delightful customer experience.
It is an easy means to streamline your pickup and delivery operations and gain complete visibility of your customers’ orders throughout the journey.
Some of the most prominent NetworkON features to optimize your online flower delivery business include:
- Automated order assignment and tracking to establish better control over the delivery teams and their activities
- AI-powered route optimization to help the delivery partners in reaching their destination in a cost-effective manner
- Robust geofencing capabilities to prevent confusion and increase the speed of deliveries in a particular geographical area
- White glove delivery services for high-value orders that require pickup, packaging, delivery, and installation
- Accurate data analytics and reporting in real-time to evaluate the performance of the teams involved in the delivery process
- Real-time notifications to customers, delivery partners, and sellers to help them be aware of the whereabouts of the orders
- Digital proof of delivery using smart devices like mobile phones and tablets to decrease paper costs and make the delivery receipts absolute transparent
- Assigning accurate ETAs for orders in transit to enable the customers to be available for delivery at the designated time
- Easy integrations with third-party apps your NetworkON App Marketplace to take full advantage of the shared capabilities across different apps
These features are just a fraction of what you can achieve with a NetworkON.
If you wish to learn more about how optimizing the last-mile delivery of an online flower delivery business can add monetary value to your business, get in touch with our experts right away.
You can email us at info@networkon.io or visit our website. You can also share your thoughts on starting an online flower delivery business in the comments section.
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