Its client list includes several state bodies, such as the Department of the Taoiseach, as well as several well-known accountancy firms, interior designers and film companies around the country. The SME has won Interflora's 'Florist of the Year' for Ireland award seven times, as well as the Irish Flower Council's "Bridal Florist of the Year" competition.
In the past the SME operated several high street shops but today it concentrates on its online business. The company's customers are predominately based in Ireland and the UK, although the florist does receive orders from all over the world every day.
Managing Director Nigel Banks has been with the company since 1988 and he believes that technology has fundamentally changed how Sheilas Flowers conducts its business. "I have no background in IT but I have learned about it over the years. [The florist business] is a completely different market now [compared to 1988]. There is little comparison and I don't even know how we could do business without IT now."
Blossoming turnover
Sheila's Flowers launched its web store in partnership with online shopping centre Buy4Now in 2002. Buy4Now designed the flower-seller's web store and today it hosts and markets this website alongside various other stores operating under the Buy4Now banner. "The website now would account for 40 percent of our turnover. It is quite sizeable for our type of business," says Banks.
The florist's staff write product and company information for the website. However, Buy4Now looks after the nuts and bolts of the site and, according to Banks, this has allowed Sheilas Flowers to concentrate on its core business. "Buy4Now provided us with a content management tool and all we have to do is put in the [product] information. They look after the back-end. I update the site regularly and the software that Buy4Now designed is very easy to use and well laid out."
Buy4Now also sends out a regular email newsletter on behalf of Sheilas Flowers to registered users. This newsletter contains information about new products and promotions and according to Banks it regularly results in increased business. "You will always see a spike in business after a newsletter goes out, especially if there is a new product or special offer. Buy4Now provide us with feedback as to how many customers opened the email, what they clicked on and what they bought," he says.
Budding challenges
The main challenge of selling flowers online is that the product is perishable and seasonal. As such, Sheila's Flowers places a big emphasis on images and product information, so customers always know what's available to order. Customers can view images of flowers by theme, occasion and season. They can also access a 'Design Your Own' section and even add 'Finishing Touches' such as balloons, chocolates and champagne. Staff take some of the images with a digital camera while others are sourced from Interflora.
Banks says the company has also benefited from moving its relationships with suppliers online. "We import our flowers from many countries, and condition and store them at optimum temperature until sale. Our suppliers are all online and we order stock from them that way. We know the lead times, we know what the optimum stock is and ordering doesn't take that long."
More recently, Sheila's Flowers has arranged for Buy4Now to integrate the SME's web store with its order processing/stock management system. According to Banks, this is something that has saved the company money and reduced the amount of time staff spend processing orders. "With the older system you'd print the order off and do quite a bit of manual work on it. Now you can basically see it go right into our system. There is a minimum amount of human interaction and it has actually saved us having to hire two members of staff," he says.
Once customers place an order online, the financial transaction is processed by Irish e-payments firm Realex Payments. According to Banks this means the SME doesn't have to worry about being Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant - a requirement for all companies that process credit cards on behalf of customers. "We don't handle the financial transaction side of things, which is important from the point of view of security. Realex also have the facility to rate people who are ordering, which helps reduce fraud." says Banks.
Future growth
The SME hasn't outsourced all of its IT functions, however. The florist uses a bespoke software package, designed by a family member, to process all orders for delivery. "Our own in-house software has all the routes and roads in Dublin. Addresses on orders are validated before being broken down into delivery runs, at the same time counting down stock levels, and printing orders and delivery labels. The software also feeds directly into our accounts package, removing the need for double entering. A full customer history is available at the push of a button." says Banks.
Sheilas Flowers has undoubtedly seen big changes in how it conducts its business; most notably, the move from operating as a traditional florist to an online one. The immediate future is a social one, with the company about to launch a Facebook page. "I know in one sense we are actually a little bit behind here but we hope to have our Facebook page up running within the next month. It will be kept up-to-date with offers and news and blog posts for a wider audience," says Banks.
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