An exclusive case study, originally published in RetailX Subscription 2023 report, highlights how the florist’s subscription business allows for forward planning and stock control.
Freddie’s Flowers is an online flower business that offers regular deliveries of beautifully fresh, highquality seasonal flowers delivered directly to the doors. Each arrangement is curated by founder and artisan florist, Freddie Garland, and is sent boxed with an arranging guide that offers an engaging experience and creative connection to flowers and floriography.
The business was started by Freddie Garland in his parents’ back garden in Wandsworth, London in 2014. Growing up in his parents’ flower shop, Freddie saw first-hand how flowers could brighten peoples’ homes and lives. Having worked at organic fruit & vegetable delivery business Abel & Cole, he saw an opportunity to use a similar business model to offer people a new, meaningful experience that was truly differentiated from the category and would disrupt the status quo.
Customers sign up to receive regular deliveries on a frequency of their choice, have complete flexibility to manage/skip their orders, and only pay for deliveries they receive. They are also able to pause/ cancel at any time.
The subscription model offers a high level of predictability, allowing Freddie to work with growers and plan months in advance to only buy what is required. Together with a significantly shortened supply chain (field-to-door in as little as two days), this considerably reduces waste and improves quality and freshness. The work to reduce waste and improve sustainability through the value chain is one of the business’s core purposes, and is recognised through its certification as Carbon Neutral by the Carbon Trust and more recently as a B Corp.
Today, the business delivers to more than 100,000 customers in the UK and Germany. The flowers are sourced from the UK and Europe, and are packed by hand by the Freddie’s teams in warehouses in London and outside Frankfurt.
The business has hand-packed its own flowers since 2017 to ensure the highest standards of care and quality. Flower deliveries are available to customers anywhere in mainland UK and Germany. In the UK, deliveries are made in London by Freddie’s own bike team, supported by a fleet of electric vans to cover longer distances.
The team also collects customers’ old boxes, so they can be reused. Outside of London logistics partners also collect old boxes, and elsewhere in the UK we use DPD who are also certified carbon neutral.
Until recently, Freddie’s Flowers has been subscription-focused, and only existing customers have been able to send gifts. However, since March this year, anyone in the UK has been able to send a gift and share the experience of Freddie’s Flowers. The new service offers a choice of arrangements across three sizes, as well as next-day delivery seven days a week.
This company profile originally appeared in the RetailX Subscription 2023 report, written by Hazel Davis. Download the report in full to discover how primarily-subscription businesses have entered and influenced the digital-direct-to-consumer sector, how existing retailers are incorporating subscriptions and subscription services.
