It is safe to say that lockdown has altered many UK industries, not least the gifting sector. As uncertainty rose, our thoughts increasingly turned to the ones we love. Before the beginning of the year, the gifting industry was growing but with the national lockdown and with further regional lockdowns being experienced up and down the country, the ability to send gifts online has become essential. Gifting is one of the primary ways of showing someone we care and so any company offering such a service will be at an advantage at a time where their physical outlets are potentially closed and therefore revenue is affected.
Bloom & Wild is a letterbox florist known for their beautiful flowers and thoughtful marketing. They offer a personal online service with a great customer experience throughout the sales journey and have an easy to use website. During recent tough times they have remained a voice of positivity and support to their customers and their marketing is sensitive and uplifting. As an exclusively online business, the company were already perfectly placed to benefit from the spike in internet shopping and have been able to take advantage of the rise in new customers as well as continuing to engage with their existing ones.
Bloom & Wild were the go-to florists for a last-minute present. The company offers a dedicated service where you pick a bouquet of your choice, personalise a card and choose your loved one’s favourite chocolates, with the option of next day delivery. The additional benefit of the Bloom and Wild service is that there is no requirement for the recipient to be home as they are packaged in a box suited for posting through a standard letterbox. Before lockdown they were a ‘fallback’ option but with recent social distancing restrictions, they are able to provide a modern and necessary alternative to traditional florists.
Sending a bouquet of flowers is a great way to make someone’s day and to show we care especially during this uncertain time, whilst socialising is restricted. Bloom & Wilds’ service provides a great experience for both sender and receiver. The aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate website and tailored online service provides a positive user journey, whilst the delivery of flowers through the letterbox, in beautiful branded packaging, with tips on how best to arrange your flowers will bring joy to the recipient.
Bloom & Wild’s focus is on caring for their customers in order to achieve ongoing loyalty. This is communicated through their digital marketing platforms and their recent email strategy reignited the relationship with existing consumers whilst engaging with new customers. The consideration towards their customers at this time of difficulty was inspiring, as the company dispatched emails with messages of ‘little gestures = a big difference’ and ‘send a rainbow’ aimed to uplift consumers and maintain a positive morale.
Whilst there is a spike in demand due to the current situation, there is a chance of Bloom & Wilds’ customers having a short-term purchasing cycle. However, as people have discovered this new and overlooked service, they have found a great product with incredible customer service and this gives the company a chance to develop their one-off customers into loyal consumers through brand awareness and ongoing positive marketing. If Bloom & Wild can maintain a reliable and high-quality service, they stand themselves in good stead against their online and high street competitors once normality resumes in the future.