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Giving floristry back to the florist
iflorist exists to bring the floristry business back into the hands of the florist. As a skilled local florist it can be soul destroying watching large retailers take your local pickup trade and online florist websites take away your traditional telephone business.
Rather than trying to compete with high street retailers and online florists, iflorist lets you plug into orders that are generated by high street retailers and online web florists.
For a one-off licence fee of £100, florists become a partner to iflorist and have the ability to receive orders from a wide range of high street retailers and web orders via Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, kelkoo and ebay. iflorist exploits the true potential of online sales, taking the pain and cost of receiving profitable orders away from independent florists - it's a bit like having your own department store on the internet without having to pay for your orders - you simply give a trade discount for the orders that you receive from us.
iflorist is an order generating system, it is not a relay service. Unlike relay companies that send flowers from anywhere to anywhere, iflorist just gives orders to its partners.
The difference here is crucial, and means that any florist can take part.
“Relay companies don't like competition. If you sign up to one, you usually have to sever any ties you have with others. This limits how much business a florist can do, but with iflorist you can be subscribed to receive orders on top of any relay work you carry out,” said Jason Hall of iflorist.
“We're not asking our partners to pick us over anyone else; we're asking them to pick us as well as everyone else they already have on the books.
“Business in general is becoming less about the individual retailer on the high street and more about the big brands.
“Floristry can't go that way. There will always be room for the national companies, but the heartbeat of the industry is the one-man bands, the family businesses and the professionals plying their trade in their own shop.”
Signing up does require a computer and access to the internet, although iflorist can help you get on your way with simple and cost effective packages.
“The technology is in most people's homes and business already; they just aren't making the most of it yet,” added Mike Chappel of iflorist. “Our system isn't complicated, we feed orders to partners and they fulfil them, it's no more difficult than that.
“But we understand that some people are a little hesitant about technology. If you're not used to it, it can be a daunting prospect. That's ok though as we have put together a straight-forward installation process and can offer support in plain English.
“All the ordering takes place on our side of the business, meaning it's one less thing for the florist to worry about. We've taken care of the set-up and the marketing; we're just ready for partners to start taking orders.”
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