@ Phillipa the market probably isn't the easiest to break into. That's why I am considering making it a gardening marketplace and not just flowers.
@ Jo I absolutely agree with you. I would be reasonably upset if I had to pay £10.00 for packaging for almost anything not international. plus cut flowers have some of the shortest lifespan I guess. they were designed like that.
Most florists, even the small ones, have their own websites and online shops nowadays - for example, if I wanted to send my daughter some flowers I'd google florists and the name of her home town and come up with about a dozen to choose from, all of whom deliver.
What would you be offering in addition to that?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
There's a website whose name I have misplaced that allows both companies and individuals to sell their plants through this main hub: you can sell as little or much as your garden can spare and I am sure includes seeds, produce, and no doubt the possibility for cut flowers too. Are you aiming at just professionals or people like us too?
Extra sales mean extra work: why aren't you asking the florists themselves rather than us if they are interested in your idea? Is the effort to enter into your system worth the money they could be getting? Are you offering a monthly subscription (I assume, naturally that you will charge for your services but it is commonly expected to get your first month free) so if they are not happy they can leave without penalty? Or will you charge a percentage per order received? What quality control do you offer? If your name is tarnished by a company that let customers down I will not be happy if people think I'm associated with them so expect to see you managing effectively who can sign up. Will they be contracted to accept x y z amount of orders or offer your website discounts that will make their extra sales actually not worth it? Will payment be made to you and then passed onto the florist? If so what aer your payment terms? Do I get the money straight away or do you pay me monthly? Do you charge admin on top of this? How will you handle creditcard payments (especially if they bounce)? What security have you in place to protect my bank account and the details of my customers?
Have you a catchy name that will really stick in their customers name above the already well known moonpig / interflora / etc.
Your best bet would be getting your website designed now so that people can see for themselves your idea and try it out before deciding if they want to learn more. I rarely ever give time to projects that can't produce a flashy website (password locked of course to stop the public walking in uninvited) to tempt my attention span.
As a lot of people have said, it's a very crowded marketplace. I should think that most shops are already signed up with one of the big players (A quick google tells me that my local flower shop is with Interflora) and that they would almost certainly have an exclusivity agreement. You'd have to convince them that what you offered was better in some way.
I recently sent cut flowers to a location a couple of hundred miles away. I have never liked using Interflora ( v. expensive). So I googled the post code on maps and found the nearest florist, rang them, (they even knew my friend's christian name!) and ordered their cheapest bouquet () when it arrived, it was so huge that it filled 3 vases.
I answer to the original question, I think the advice about starting small makes sense.
@Pansyface. he must have had to work extra hard to produce that sort of quality.
@ Jo. It would be easier for the end user to find them instead of searching individually for a particular flower. One of the primary benefit is being able to find the exact plant or seeds you require. In addition, being in a conglomerate competition would also mean delivery on quality and being a unique stand out would increase the chances of more sales.I do not intend to replace interflora, would differ. I also intend to implement a feedback system on individual shops or stores quite similar to the concept applied at amazon.
@ Dovefromabove, What I hope to be offering, would be the ability to have the dozen or so florist in a single site with relevant customer feedback whenever possible.
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Thanks Dave for the info .. that was helpful. My idea is aggregate an online marketplace for our homegrown florist.
@ Phillipa the market probably isn't the easiest to break into. That's why I am considering making it a gardening marketplace and not just flowers.
@ Jo I absolutely agree with you. I would be reasonably upset if I had to pay £10.00 for packaging for almost anything not international. plus cut flowers have some of the shortest lifespan I guess. they were designed like that.
My idea is quiet simple really in theory. Its a conglomerate of small time florist quite similar to Interflora.
I just feel they would not mind the extra sales guys. Extra sales would not hinder their business I think.
That depends on the cost.
Most florists, even the small ones, have their own websites and online shops nowadays - for example, if I wanted to send my daughter some flowers I'd google florists and the name of her home town and come up with about a dozen to choose from, all of whom deliver.
What would you be offering in addition to that?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
There's a website whose name I have misplaced that allows both companies and individuals to sell their plants through this main hub: you can sell as little or much as your garden can spare and I am sure includes seeds, produce, and no doubt the possibility for cut flowers too. Are you aiming at just professionals or people like us too?
Extra sales mean extra work: why aren't you asking the florists themselves rather than us if they are interested in your idea? Is the effort to enter into your system worth the money they could be getting? Are you offering a monthly subscription (I assume, naturally that you will charge for your services but it is commonly expected to get your first month free) so if they are not happy they can leave without penalty? Or will you charge a percentage per order received? What quality control do you offer? If your name is tarnished by a company that let customers down I will not be happy if people think I'm associated with them so expect to see you managing effectively who can sign up. Will they be contracted to accept x y z amount of orders or offer your website discounts that will make their extra sales actually not worth it? Will payment be made to you and then passed onto the florist? If so what aer your payment terms? Do I get the money straight away or do you pay me monthly? Do you charge admin on top of this? How will you handle creditcard payments (especially if they bounce)? What security have you in place to protect my bank account and the details of my customers?
Have you a catchy name that will really stick in their customers name above the already well known moonpig / interflora / etc.
Your best bet would be getting your website designed now so that people can see for themselves your idea and try it out before deciding if they want to learn more. I rarely ever give time to projects that can't produce a flashy website (password locked of course to stop the public walking in uninvited) to tempt my attention span.
As a lot of people have said, it's a very crowded marketplace. I should think that most shops are already signed up with one of the big players (A quick google tells me that my local flower shop is with Interflora) and that they would almost certainly have an exclusivity agreement. You'd have to convince them that what you offered was better in some way.
I recently sent cut flowers to a location a couple of hundred miles away. I have never liked using Interflora ( v. expensive). So I googled the post code on maps and found the nearest florist, rang them, (they even knew my friend's christian name!) and ordered their cheapest bouquet (
) when it arrived, it was so huge that it filled 3 vases.
I answer to the original question, I think the advice about starting small makes sense.
@Pansyface. he must have had to work extra hard to produce that sort of quality.
@ Jo. It would be easier for the end user to find them instead of searching individually for a particular flower. One of the primary benefit is being able to find the exact plant or seeds you require. In addition, being in a conglomerate competition would also mean delivery on quality and being a unique stand out would increase the chances of more sales.I do not intend to replace interflora, would differ. I also intend to implement a feedback system on individual shops or stores quite similar to the concept applied at amazon.
@ Dovefromabove, What I hope to be offering, would be the ability to have the dozen or so florist in a single site with relevant customer feedback whenever possible.