In recent times, eCommerce has drastically changed the way most businesses function, and the floral industry is no exception. With the advent of the internet becoming the primary platform for shopping for most consumers, businesses such as the flower industry have shifted their services to the eCommerce sector as well. As a result of this, the floral industry has changed and adapted its services to suit the online platform, allowing consumers to buy and send flowers online. Let’s take a look at the impact eCommerce has had on the floral industry.
Decline in Traditional Flower Shops
One of the main reasons for the rise of the flower industry in the eCommerce sector is due to the withering of traditional flower shops over the years. With online consumers increasing day by day, people tend to prefer searching for products online than having to go in search of the local florist’s shop to order a simple bouquet. Hence, online flower shops, though initially few in number, were eagerly sought after by customers who preferred dealing with florists online. As a result of this, the traditional floral shops met with a sudden decrease in consumption, leading to the shift of a conventionally offline business to the online platform.
Rise In Consumption
Following this, the eCommerce sector of the floral industry met with a flourishing business as most people who generally would not go through the effort of buying flowers in person began to order them online with the swipe of the screen. The ease of accessibility accompanied by the marketing strategies employed by the businesses in the industry allowed them to grow and become popular in the eCommerce field.
Additionally, most businesses adopted a subscription floral service that catered to consumers who were fairly regular with their purchases. Thus, the floral industry in the online platform was able to develop a massive growth simply from subscribers who had monthly or yearly subscriptions. This was mainly due to the discounted prices available through subscription models which were able to entice the consumers by giving them a more affordable deal. As a result of this, the floral industry was able to develop and maintain a solid passive income that kept the business going even if there were not many regular customers at certain periods of time.
Ultra Competitive Industry Environment
With the rise of numerous shops online, it’s natural that the online floral business is currently extremely competitive, given that consumers now have hundreds of shops they can buy almost the same flowers from. Thus, businesses need to focus on giving the customer high-quality products at an affordable price to keep them coming back. The price plays an important role in this as even if the products and delivery are highly commendable, consumers are going to want to choose the option that’s easier on their budget at the end of the day. In order to make the products likable as well as affordable, most businesses have developed floral bundles and packages which allow consumers to buy flowers in bulk at a decent price.
Hence, the more diverse options and varieties a business has automatically boosts the amount of traffic and consumption it attracts. Online floral shops are therefore in constant competition to give consumers a better deal than their competitors. As a part of this, many floral businesses have also partnered with other businesses that deal with chocolates and other gifts, thereby allowing consumers to purchase a complete gift package with a bouquet and a box of chocolates together. This strategy has also proved to be quite successful in recent times.
