In the times of Covid-19, businesses across industries have been forced to build out their digital shopfronts. In fact, US ecommerce grew by 44% from 2019-2020 (almost triple the 15.1% jump from 2018-2019), representing 21.3% of total retail sales for the year.
Traditional flower shops are no stranger to this either – as the flower industry grows and customers move increasingly online florists are taking this leap and going digital. Given that the floral gifting market in the US is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% from 2020-2025, it’s no surprise that florists are embracing the online model and meeting their customers where they are.
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Reasons why online flower delivery is the new norm for flower shops
1. It’s Convenient for Flowers Shops
Gone are the days when people would insist on seeing, feeling, and smelling their flowers in person. In 2021, convenience is king, and businesses that don’t provide an easy shopping experience will miss out.
Consumers are buying everything they can online, whether that’s flowers, furniture, or their weekly food shop. By allowing your customers to make an Order Flowers Online for Delivery, you provide them with the convenience that’s not only commonplace – but widely expected – in a world increasingly dominated by e-commerce.
2. You Can Expand Your Customer Base
Before Florist online stores, consumers would more often than not buy from the closest florist to them and stick to that one as their shop of choice. With access to an online platform, customers from a much farther radius can discover a florist’s repertoire, and get those flowers delivered to their own homes.
Read More: Where Can I Buy Flowers Online In The USA?
Going online also means you can leverage the true power of digital marketing, and attract a wider audience through things like social media marketing, email campaigns, and digital advertising.
3. Your Customers Get Round-the-Clock Service
We’ve all been there – remembering someone’s birthday or your anniversary at the last minute, well after the stores have closed. Online flower delivery can help your customers in those stressful moments, as they simply have to open your website to make that order at the click of a button.
Going digital also means florists can provide online customer service, be it through customer service chat agents or chatbots. This level of accessibility is now essential for any business that wants to keep its customers happy – especially as 64% of internet users say that 24-hour service is the best feature of chatbots.
4. You Can Provide Better Value
Online flower orders are similar to shoppers doing self check-out in a brick and mortar store – it’s convenient for the customer, and the business saves time spent on each sale. These savings can then be passed onto the customer, who still receives high-quality flowers.
In addition, when ordering online, customers have more access to variety compared to what they might find on display in a physical store. Many florist website providers such as Hana Florist POS come with options that allow the business owner to regulate online options and make necessary restrictions according to availability within the customer management system (CMS).
Read More: Best Place to Buy Fresh Flowers
5. You Can Leverage the Power of Third-party Platforms
Opening a digital storefront doesn’t mean you have to build your platform’s entire front and back end from scratch. Platforms give florists all the functionality they need to keep operations smooth and CX seamless, including a mobile app for real-time delivery confirmation, digital signatures, and the ability to send photos of the flowers to the customer prior to delivery.
Not only this, but florists also use the power of these state-of-the-art systems to market to customers and benefit from repeat business through things like email campaigns and content marketing. For example, you can use these platforms to remind a past customer about an upcoming birthday that they had previously sent flowers for. With the cost of acquiring business from existing customers estimated to be one-fifth of the costs of acquiring a new customer, this is a critical approach to adopt for small businesses.
Not to mention, you’ll get access to reporting and analytics about your site visitors so you can better adapt and tailor their digital experience to your customer base.
Also Read: Happy Times to Consider Giving Flowers
