It's taken me several weeks to circle back on this topic. In Part 1, I talked about local delivery and how floral shops can tap into more innovative ways to do business. Now, let's discuss another avenue of business, shipping.
As global ecommerce continues to take over the world, online spending continues to increase as well. According to Forbes.com, global ecommerce is expected to grow from $5.8 trillion to $6.3 trillion by the end of 2024. By 2027, it will be $7.9 trillion. The US floral gifting market reached $12.25 billion in 2022 and is expected to increase to $18.99 billion by 2028. As we know, the majority of these flowers are imported. Arriving predominantly in Miami, floral product is distributed across the nation through an intricate weaving of distributors, wholesalers, and yes online retailers.
If you are reading this and thinking, oh I'm not worried about that. I'm all local, this doesn't impact me. Think again.
One of the things I've learned in ten years of business, is what's my long game. As a new business owner, what needs to happen on a day-to-day basis is like a faucet. It all comes at you at once. Over time, you start to find your stride and the weeks and months pass. At times, which might last for years, you can be so focused on your objective you barely have time to look up and see what the rest of the world is doing. Before you know it, your product might be phasing out or services might be slowing. Yet, you don't see it right away. Having a business vision or plan is super important. Someone might say, I'm going to do this forever! I thought this too. In reality, life happens. I mean, just look at Covid-19. NO ONE could have ever predicted it. But, it happened, and it destroyed millions upon millions of people's lives.
Phygital Retail. No, That's Not A Typo.
Global commerce is going to continue to dominate, and shipping isn't going away. While we've had a quick resurgence of brick and mortar stores, business owners will need to think about reaching more and more customers. Consumers are making it clear. They want modern and convenient ways to shop. I just learned about a new term, phygital retail. No, that's not a typo. Phygital retail is, "hybrid shopping." This is where generations diverge in their approaches to shop.
My mom, a boomer, is always complaining about how far she has to travel to buy goods. She lives in a remote area but continues to travel many miles to buy what she needs and wants. She loves to window shop and walk the aisles of stores. To me, the perfect solution is to shop online for everyday items. She's a great example of a consumer who would benefit from having products shipped to her, then she wouldn't have to drive around so much and so far. Yet, she's still reluctant to shop online because she prefers the physical aspect of buying products. My mom is literally uncomfortable shopping online. Her lifelong habit is going to the store, and that isn't going to change.
Another example is my son. He's into Nike shoes. While he loves going to the mall and looking at new styles, he for sure shopped around to find the best price, including online. If he finds it cheaper online, he turns to me and says, "Look!" Even a friend of his buys very expensive and exclusive Nike's only to resell them a few months later on sites like The Real Real. While I love this ingenuity, I try to limit my shopping to only a few sites.
I Love Creator Commerce!
For myself, I have started shopping for clothes online. Struggling for a long time, it's hard for a curvy girl! It's exhausting going from store to store, trying on many items only to walk out empty handed and discouraged. Not to mention, the gas and time used to drive around to all these different stores, it's wasteful! Following several "curvy" influencers, I have found numerous items, including bathing suits! I like going to the mall too, but I really enjoy seeing other ladies test the clothes from the convenience of my smartphone. I just bought the most awesome pair of shorts on Amazon. All because an influencer named Shelli, who has a similar body type as mine, shared the shorts on her TikTok account. I am loving this new form of shopping, called creator commerce (another new term I learned)!
It's really important for business owners to be aware of consumer shopping trends. It's these innovations that will dominate in the years to come. The question is, how will your business evolve to these new forms of commerce to stay relevant as new generations of consumers start to dominate the marketplace. You may not like it and fight it for a long time, but shopping and shipping directly to one's doorstep isn't going away.
Rethinking my own perspective on shipping, I used to think Amazon shoppers were lazy. I live in a rural area just outside of suburbia. Country living isn't necessarily convenient. I completely take back my words!!! I see electric Amazon trucks buzzing all over town dropping off packages. Think about each of those items in the boxes. That could be one stop at a different store for someone who had to drive 15 minutes into town or further! Add up all those country residents running around to buy what they want and need, and that's a lot of fuel and time! When I shop on Amazon, I have the option to hold my packages for one shipment rather than multiple trips for each. I love this! Sometimes, I even get a few dollars back for bundling my orders. This is awesome!
But, does the floral industry really need a new way to ship flowers? My answer is YES!! In particular, I think small flower farmers need to think hard about how they should get their product from the farm to their customer- which might be B2B or B2C. Imports dominate this world. A small business owner can't beat their operations or their prices. So STOP! Just because the industry has a standard, doesn't mean you have to follow it. Lean into shipping or setting up a new wholesale hub. Remember that old saying, strength in numbers! It holds true throughout life. I can say with experience, shipping is figure-out-able. Is that a word? It is now! Learn about larger platforms to reach new customers and more automated processes. Do the shipping costs freak you out? Me too! But there are ways to get discounts. (Ask me how!)
Do you have an innovative idea you've been pondering for a while? Are you a grower and want to ship flowers but don't know where to get started? Are you a florist who is embarrassed to raise your hand and ask for help? Stop what you are doing and push through that fear. Stop thinking about what someone might think about you or your business. How do you envision growing? Consider someone like me to help talk you through your aspirations.
Ready to talk? Let's connect! Send an email to tammy@lorabloom.com