BloomNation Focuses on Customer Experience to Grow Its Business

Gregg Weisstein, COO of BloomNation, isn’t a big fan of the so-called “floral wire services,” and wants to transform the online customer experience related to buying flowers.

Weisstein says that with larger floral wire services, customers select flowers from a catalog of stock photos where pricing is already set. But, he says, that process doesn’t reflect the local cost structures for merchants involved who have to fulfill those orders. What’s more, he says half of the money paid for each arrangement goes toward fees before making its way to the florist.

Because florists in these situations don’t interact directly with customers, Weisstein believes that they don’t have an incentive to do their best job.

“Customers go to these websites and see 100 cookie-cutter arrangements,” Weisstein says. “That wire service is a mass marketing middle man. They take that order and take 50% of the money and send the other 50% to the local florist. There is zero transparency. The customer has no idea what florist is fulfilling that order. They could wind up with five-day old red roses, which raises a huge quality issue. There is a huge disconnect with no customer data. The floral wire service is an order filler.”

How is BloomNation different?

Allowing customers to connect directly with local florists whose flower arrangements are highlighted in the marketplace is a key point of differentiation.

“What we do is completely cut out that middle man,” Weisstein says. “We show customers who the local florists are, say, in New York City, and here’s what they have to facilitate the order.”

Weisstein says local florists are able to set up profiles on the BloomNation platform, then upload real photos (not stock photos) of their floral designs. In return, they keep a larger portion of their sales compared to working with a floral wire service.

“We process the credit card into an escrow account and 90% is deposited into the florist’s account, and 10% is our cut and we cover all the fees,” Weisstein says. “The florist isn’t getting an order. They’re getting a customer.”

What’s more, Weisstein says a big benefit of BloomNation is the “BloomSnap,” which is a photo of the flowers the customer receives before they are delivered so he or she can see exactly what they will be receiving.

“When we first came up with this concept, we literally walked into 100 florist shops in L.A. and talked to them to understand their pain points to see how we could help,” Weisstein says. “People shop online because they want to order online. It’s easier. What you end up with are great local florist artisans vetted. Sending flowers is an emotional thing and customers want to make sure what they’re doing comes out right. They don’t want to be embarrassed.”

BloomNation works with about 2,000 florists across the country.

“We have great traction with the florists and the customer response has been fabulous,” Weisstein says. “Everybody loves seeing the picture of the arrangement before it goes out. We work closely with the florist and the florist handles all the customer service issues. The traction is really amazing. What we’re doing is so different from the market. 1-800-Flowers.com made a lot of sense before the Internet. But with the Internet, you don’t need this broker in the middle. We’re all about the customer experience and it makes the florists better merchants.”

BloomNation’s website launched about a year ago.

“The market is really at a tipping point,” Weisstein says. “The quality and customer experience for what we offer and what is offered by the floral wire services is night and day. Our goal is to continue to bring on as many great florists as we can across the country. We want to make the experience on mobile just as big. We’re blown away by the traction we have. It really has been unbelievable. Florists call and thank us to allow them to do what they want to do. We’re getting them the tools to build their own business. They’ve been so reliant on these wire services.”

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