"Less than 1% of the total flower assortment available in webshops for consumers"

Did you know that the flower world only sells 0.01% of its total supply of cut flowers to consumers via e-commerce? When you look at the bouquets of the top 3 players in e-commerce, you come to the conclusion that they only use around 40 families of flowers. There are a number of colour and varieties per family, which means that the world of flowers offers no more than 150 unique flowers to consumers in webshops. A thin contrast to the over 10,000 unique flowers that the auction trades.

The column below was written by Eric Egberts, founder of BloomyPro, and as his story shows, a proponent of (using) an as wide as possible assortment of flowers and plants.

The flower world is opposite world. In other branches (think white goods and fashion) you can order what you see in a physical store online. Even further: the online supply and options are even more plentiful in webshops than stores around the corner.

If this is a surprise to you, wait until you see what's next: Where is the creativity of the florist? Where is the distinctive energy of the store supplying the bouquets? Most florists take on jobs in which they show no freedom of creativity! Whereas in fashion you can put together your own shoes, it is almost impossible to order a personal creation.

Think of white goods again: a washing machine has no emotion. And yet webshops like Coolblue buy them with a lot of experience. "It's always something with a picture, price and button," says Coolblue boss and co-founder Pieter Zwart when talking about webshops during ING Business Boost. But "It's about the customer journey." The way Coolblue deals with the customer ensures the defining power and huge customer involvement in the brand.

The flower world can learn so much from this. Our branch is well suited for defining experiences. Flowers give feeling to the most emotional moments in life. With flowers you give love, comfort, happiness and so much more. This is the market where the experience is, but webshops aren't jumping into it.

I ask myself the question; when will florists offer a wider and deeper assortment? When will they really let their creativity loose and determine their own prices and margins? And does the florist make the best customer journeys possible?

For more information:
BloomyPro
Eric Egberts
M: +31651388039
E: eric.egberts@bloomypro.com
www.bloomypro.com