Netflorist

COMPANY PROFILE

2015

Netflorist

www.netflorist.co.za | +27 11 287 8200

company profile

Flowers, gifts and ecommerce

Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

For all those times when you need to show someone your appreciation, NetFlorist, as South Africa’s leading online florist and gifting service, is there to help you say it best. In this month’s issue of IndustrySA we catch up with Ryan Bacher, founder and Managing Director, to find out what his company has been up to these last 12 months...

Google Africa recently stated that it is seeing substantial growth in Africa’s ecommerce sector, anticipating that there will be a massive boom in the market by 2017. One of the companies that have been blazing a trail in online sales for many years, a company already well-positioned to ride the wave of surging activity in the online marketplace, is NetFlorist - 15-year veteran in the South African ecommerce space and well-known leader in the online gifting industry.

Following a somewhat serendipitous beginning in 1999, NetFlorist is now South Africa’s numberone online florist and, along with its sister brands, NetGifts, NetJewel and NetPerfume, is the largest same-day gift service nationally.

Today ranked among the top 500 websites visited

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in the country, the company began its journey in the very early days of ecommerce in South Africa and is most recognisable for its tongue-in-cheek marketing style, user friendly platform and quality service.

We last spoke to NetFlorist in February, 2014, when it was gearing up for one of its busiest periods, Valentine’s Day, and in this issue we find out what the company has been up to over the last 12 months to further grow and diversify its offering.

COMPANY BACKGROUND As w e foun d out l a s t ye a r, N e t F l ori s t h a d a n opport un i s t i c be g i n n i n g , s t a rt i n g up ori g i n a l l y as a dum m y w e bs i t e , w i t h n o i n i t i a l i n t e n t i on s to prog re s s i n t o a ful l y-fl e dg e d bus i n e s s .

NetFlorist

“At th e time o f the company’s be g inning s I w a s w o rking f o r an inte rne t se rv ice prov ide r,” e x plain ed Ry an B ache r, M anag ing Dire ctor a n d f o u n d er o f N etFlorist, “and one of o u r b igger clients aske d us to build the ir e c ommerce w eb s ite . Unfortunate ly at that t i m e , eco mmerce in South Africa was v e ry ne w a n d w e d id n’t kn o w much about it. “ Ins tead o f b acking away from the proposal, w e t o ld th e client that we we re v e ry happy t o bu ild th eir w eb site , but first we wante d to b u i l d o n e o f o u r o wn so that we unde rstood t h e pro ces s and w e re familiar with the way it w o r k ed . They w ere happy for us to do that and t h a t is w here N etF lorist starte d. “ It w as never o u r inte ntion to hav e a b u s i nes s th at s o ld flowe rs and g ifts in a

s us t a i n a bl e w a y. O ur i n t e n t i on w a s t o bui l d a w e bs i t e w h i c h w e c oul d l e a rn from a n d e v e n t ua l l y c l os e dow n , t h e n g o ba c k t o t h e c l i e n t a n d s a y ‘ye s w e k n ow e x a c t l y w h a t w e a re doi n g n ow ’.”

A ft e r B a c h e r a n d h i s t e a m foun d t h a t t h e re w a s un e x pe c t e dl y h i g h de m a n d for t h e s e rv i c e t h e i r t e s t pl a t form w a s prov i di n g , t h e y de c i de d t o de v e l op N e t Fl ori s t i n t o a ful l y-fl e dg e d i n de pe n de n t bus i n e s s , w i t h B a c h e r t a k i n g ov e r a s M a n a g i n g D i re c t or ful l -t i m e i n 2 0 0 3 .

CATERING TO ITS CUSTOMERS Wi t h a v a s t produc t ra n g e , c ov e ri n g a w i de v a ri e t y of g i ft i n g n e e ds , from i t s bouque t a n d pl a n t offe ri n g t o je w e l l e ry, pe rfum e , a n d m ore re c e n t l y, ba k e ry a n d c on fe c t i on a ry, N e t Fl ori s t

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company profile

Ryan Bacher | Managing Director t r i e s t o a n ticip ate everything its custome rs m a y b e l o o king f o r an d as a re sult has d i v e r s i f i e d o ver the y ears to try ne w av e nue s t h a t m a y p ro d u ce incre ase d re v e nue s for the b u s i n e ss . “ In o u r f lo ral b u s in ess we re ally innov ate a l l t h e t ime,” exp lain s Bache r, “We bring m or e a n d mo re o f o u r own product in from t h e e a s t s p ecif ically, va se s, containe rs, those k i n ds o f th ings . I t’s p art of the boring part of b u s i n e ss , b u t it help s us improv e our marg ins a n d a l so help s u s d if f ere ntiate ourse lv e s from a n y bo d y els e in So u th Africa be cause our r a n g e i s certain ly the wide st in the country a n d be c a u s e o f o u r ab ility to bring in v olume fro m o v ers eas . “ We f o cu s eq u ally o n all of our products b u t o u r f lo w er d ep artm e nt had a massiv e he ad s t a r t ; ou r exp ectatio n ov e r the ne xt fiv e ye ars a s we i n t en d to gro w is to re ach a 5 0 /5 0 split b e t we e n f lo w ers an d gi fts be cause we be lie v e

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“The other area we are spending a lot of time on is personalisation which is also growing quite nicely in the UK”

netflorist gi f t s are a f as t d eve loping cate g ory.”

NetGifts is certainly the most successful of NetFlorist’s sister brands at this time and evidence of Bacher and his team’s ability to anticipate the demands of customers. Its tagline is ‘SA’s largest sameday gift service’ – a testament to the company’s commitment to diversifying and expanding its product range.

It is this dedication to trying new avenues and learning from those that were perhaps less successful that has made NetFlorist unafraid to make the calculated risks it needs to in order to grow the business.

THE PAST 12 MONTHS O v e r t h e pa s t ye a r N e t F l ori s t h a s be e n i n v e s t i n g v a l ua bl e t i m e i n t o t h e e x t e n s i on of i t s bra n d, l a un c h i n g i t s ba k e ry a n d c on fe c t i on a ry s i de i n N ov e m be r of 2 0 1 4 , offe ri n g e v e ryt h i n g from c a k e s a n d brow n i e s t o c upc a k e bouque t s – w i t h pl a n s t o a dd m ore produc t i n J ul y, on e of t h e fe w n on -oc c a s i on m on t h s for t h e c om pa n y. “ T h e c om pa n y i s g row i n g a roun d 3 0 % ye a ron -ye a r,” e x pl a i n s B a c h e r. “An d w e proba bl y h a v e t w o bi g n e w a re a s s i n c e l a s t ye a r. T h e

League of Extraordinary Consultants are made up of a number of specialist companies that have been involved with Netflorist’s systems from the outset, and worked with Netflorist to create a seamless data ecosystem. By really understanding Netflorist’s business they have partnered with them to create Synergy between the action-packed ever changing demands of the e-commerce retail interface and the structured and detailed financial world that resides in Sage Evolution ERP. Get it Done IT Solutions who is a Super Platinum Sage Evolution Reseller with a footprint in Africa, created the base with Sage Evolution ERP that not only fits all their financial needs, but is simple and concise enough to give all the users on all levels an intuitive and logical tool to do their work. All the debtors and creditors management including corporate clients gets handled within Sage Evolution, making sure not an invoice or payment is missed. The web orders are imported into Sage Evolution from where staff in the warehouse can facilitate the picking and distribution of orders to the customers. At the other end of the spectrum the system generates the financial information management needs to run such a fast paced and dynamic endeavour efficiently and profitable.

Know Informatics is the development arm and deployed many of its tools in order for the web interface to communicate with the ERP. The importation platform that was implemented is 100% database driven, and thus ideal to handle bulk data, enabling Netflorist to get orders into the system fast. It also utilizes a two stage process where the data is first imported into a staging environment helping the end users to see and respond to any data inconsistencies on the fly. Because of their experience with the Sage Evolution database and structures they have also streamlined and automated the manufacturing process eliminating the need to do it manually, but still enabling the users to adapt and respond in the cases where an item is unavailable or not booked in yet.

Because all the raw materials are purchased through Sage Evolution ERP, the stock levels and availability are kept within its domain. They have deployed their proprietary FullCircle Stock management system to extract both the sales information and the purchase history to assist Netflorist in the procurement and planning process. FullCircle with its powerful forecasting functionality that has become a vital cog in the Netflorist’s machine around peak times like Valentine’s and Mother’s Day. Due to the fleeting nature of much of the stock, the stock ageing functionality also assists Netflorist to focus on items that need to get out of the warehouse fast.

Working with Netflorist, they have helped to get all their systems to work together, creating synergy between different pieces of software each designed to fulfil its own tasks optimally.

For more information visit us at www.gid-it.co.za | www.loec.co.za or info@gid-it.co.za

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company profile

fir st w o u ld b e co n f ectionary, we ’v e ope ne d our o w n b a k ery, w h ere w e do cake s and cupcake s a n d do n uts and cho co late brownie s and all s o r t s. “ We a re in the p ro cess of adding more and m or e p r od u ct to th at rang e , strawbe rrie s and c h o c ol a tes an d macaro ons - those kinds of t h i n gs . T h is w ill all go liv e in the ne xt month. “ T h e o ther area w e a re spe nding a lot of t i m e o n is p ers o n alis ation, which is also gr ow i n g q u ite nicely in the UK. We now a l l ow ou r cu s to mers to add the ir own touch t o a l o t o f o u r gif ts , w he the r it’s e ng rav ing , em br oi dering o r ad d in g name s on labe ls of b o t t l e d win es . We’ re d e finite ly v e ry e xcite d a bo u t c onf ectio n ary and pe rsonalisation.

A l w a ys b eing ab le to prov ide some thing fre s h f or the cu s to mer while still maintaining t h e h i g h s tand ard s o f e xisting product rang e s h a s b e e n a co rners to n e of Ne tFlorist’s succe ss

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ov e r t h e ye a rs a n d i s t h e re a s on w h y, i n t h e on l i n e fl ori s t a n d g i ft i n g s pa c e , i t re a l l y h a s n o com pe t i t i on t o s pe a k of.

A s w e l l a s a ddi n g t h e s e t w o n e w produc t ran g e s , a s i f t h a t w a s n ’t e n oug h , N e t Fl ori s t h a s also l a un c h e d a c e l e bri t y fl ora l ra n g e w h i c h i t wil l be e x t e n di n g i n t h e n e a r fut ure . “ We ’v e g o t l oc a l c e l e bri t i e s t h a t h a v e c om e i n t o our wa re h ous e a n d h a v e de s i g n e d t h e i r ow n ra n g e of fl ow e rs , w h i c h i s g oi n g qui t e n i c e l y. We lau n c h e d t h a t a bout a m on t h a g o.”

Ev i de n t l y t h e m os t i m port a n t a re a of foc us for N e t F l ori s t i s c us t om e r s a t i s fa c t i on a n d the a bi l i t y t o de l i v e r h i g h qua l i t y s e rv i c e a n d g o ods .

To d a y t h e c o m p a n y h a s f i v e w a r e h o u s e s and an in-house distribution network supporting its significant online sales and providing a solid base that enables it to expand its offering in response to demand.

Netflorist

“In our floral business we really innovate all the time”

Its infrastructure is the backbone of the whole operation and NetFlorist have invested a lot of time and energy into ensuring its network of storage facilities a n d v e h i c l e s a r e u p t o p a r. “ We ’ v e i n c r e a s e d o u r d e l i v e r y f l e e t a n d we’ve also moved it into a cold-chain environment, obviously to help with our floral deliveries but also so that we can deliver our confectionary products via our o w n d i s t r i b u t i o n , s o t h a t ’s b e e n a b i g c h a n g e f o r u s ,” s a y s B a c h e r.

“On the warehousing front we’ve expanded two of them and we’ve still got five warehouses and our own presence in the five areas in South Africa. “ O v e r t h e l a s t t w o ye a rs , w e ’v e a l s o be e n m ov i n g t h e c ul t ure of t h e bus i n e s s s l i g h t l y t o m ore of a ‘pe rform a n c e dri v e n , c us t om e r obs e s s e d’ c ul t ure . I g ue s s w e w e re a s oft e r k i n d

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company profile o f c u l t u re, w h ich w e’ re ce rtainly not trying t o l o s e , b u t no w w e are mov ing more into a m a t ur e , co rp o rate environme nt and I think t h a t ’s h e lp in g o u r b u s ine ss g row up. E v e n t h o u gh w e are 15 y ears old we ’re still g rowing u p i n a w ay, s o th at’s b e e n a big chang e ov e r t h e l a st tw o y ears .”

KEY TO SUCCESS N e t F l o r is t h as certain ly be e n a company w i t h t h e ab ility to ch ang e and adapt to its en v i r on m en t, an d this can in no small way b e a t t r i b u ted to B acher and his two partne r’s s hr e wd l ead ers h ip o ver its 1 5 ye ars in o p e r a t i o n – s o meth ing which is se t to continue i n t h e y e ars to co me. Whe n we aske d if he has a n y p l a n s to take a s tep back and re lax, Bache r q u i c k l y res p o nd ed : “N o none at all – g ot lots t o do .”

T h e c o mp any ’s s u ccess can also be cre dite d t o i t s f l e xib le ap p ro ach and willing ne ss to l e a r n f r o m mis takes , its cle ar brand ide ntity a n d t o t h e p artn ers h ip s it has foste re d ov e r the ye a r s. “ In o n e as p ect w e b u ilt the busine ss

ori g i n a l l y by l e v e ra g i n g l ot s of pa rt n e rs h i ps on the m a rk e t i n g s i de . We k i n d of c o-prom ot e d our produc t w i t h l ot s of ot h e r bra n ds w h o were i n t e re s t e d i n s e l l i n g fl ow e rs a n d g i ft s ; the y s ol d our produc t t o t h e i r c us t om e rs a n d we i n c l ude d t h e m i n t h e s a l e .

A lot of those partnerships are still around and they’ve helped us enormously in building a customer base without over-spending on marketing.

“The other key area on the marketing side is that we’ve built a local brand in South African which has been reasonably consistent. It’s quite a cheeky brand that revolves around humour and people have got to know the characters that we use in our adverts and our brand because of that consistency which has helped us a lot to build a brand locally. “ L a s t l y, w e h a v e n ’t be e n s c a re d t o t ry t h i n g s , but w e ’v e a l s o fa i l e d pre t t y qui c k l y - pe rh a ps not a l w a ys a s qui c k l y a s w e s h oul d h a v e . We ’v e tak e n s om e k n oc k s a l on g t h e w a y but w h e n som e t h i n g h a s n ’t w ork e d g e n e ra l l y w e ’re a bl e to m ov e a l on g from i t be fore i t de s t roys t h e bus i n e s s . I t h i n k be i n g a bl e t o m a k e m i s t a k e s an d m ov e on from t h e m a s w e l l w h i c h I t h i n k ha s h e l pe d us ,” B a c h e r c on c l ude s

.

RAM Couriers enables e-commerce Constant communication. Understanding every customer’s specific business requirements.

Planning and working closely with the customer to deal with each of their unique challenges.

That approach lies at the heart of RAM Handto-Hand Couriers’ long association with many of South Africa’s largest companies including cellular service providers and retailers of general goods, as well as leading corporations and businesses.

It’s an approach that has resulted in the flourishing of RAM’s eight-year partnership with Netflorist.

“One of the key success factors for any ecommerce operation like Netflorist is reliable, responsive order fulfilment. That is what we promise, and what we deliver,” says RAM joint managing director, Graeme Lazarus.

Founded in 1988 as a specialised courier company focused on the delivery of valuable cargo, RAM Hand-to-Hand Couriers today has more than 41 distribution hubs, a team of around 2809 trained personnel, and the capacity to deliver to 1,130 towns and over 14,000 suburbs across South Africa.

Included in those deliveries are between 150,000 to 200,000 home deliveries every month.

“To our knowledge we are the only courier company in South Africa that does not sub-contract deliveries to third parties, resulting in an unsurpassed track record of delivering securely, intact and on time. We maintain a 15 percent spare capacity of vehicles so that we can keep this promise,” he adds.

All this, combined with careful planning, enables RAM to deliver the enormous flood of orders that Netflorist receives for celebratory days – Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day – within a limited timeframe.

“Receiving a Valentine’s Day gift on the 15th or 16th of February because of a delivery glitch would be totally unacceptable. Thanks to our close relationship with Netflorist, we’ve successfully delivered some 12,000 Netflorist hampers and boxed gifts within the very short Valentine’s Day timeframe,” Lazarus concludes.

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