One of Rocketspark’s many helpful features, Customer Accounts, has fertilised the growth of a thriving flower business.
Flowers by Joanne opened in Orewa 45 years ago, Barbara Everiss bought the business back in 2000, and after 18 years, she sold it to its current owner Li Gong.
Li speaks highly of her predecessor, who even left her a personalised number plate saying “bouquet”.
“Barb was a long time St John Volunteer and professionally trained Florist. Flowers by Joanne is well known in the area for its good reputation and talented florists,” a reputation, Li said, that was largely thanks to Barb.
The original owner, a woman named Joanne, only owned the shop for around six months when it first opened way back when, not a lot is known about her, but every owner since has kept the name.
Li, who moved to New Zealand from China over 13 years ago, bought both Barbara’s Flowers by Joanne at Riverside Rd, and Fabulous flowers at Coast Plaza.
“I also established another flower shop in Silverdale Mall. But I sold the two other flower shops right before our first Covid lockdown in 2020 so I could focus on Flowers by Joanne from April, 2020.”
Li said she’d always liked flowers and design, so putting the two together worked well for her.
“Floristry is hard, but my passion for flowers keeps me going. Every bouquet is different, every customer has different requirements to suit different occasions. Making large arrangements can be very challenging for corporate functions as we have to create very differently styled arrangements for the same audiences weekly, and they can tell the details, effort and freshness of the flowers.”
Li said when she took over the business she thought it would be great to have a new website, especially when Flowers by Joanne became her only business focus after selling her two other stores.
“A friend recommended Rocketspark when I was wanting a new website for Flowers by Joanne, and we thought Rocketspark was quite easy to set up. Max, my husband, learnt how to set up a new website from scratch, by going through all the help guides provided by Rocketspark.”
Li came across the Rocketspark Customer Accounts feature in February 2020 and since adding the feature to her website her sales went up drastically.
“Customer Accounts allows customers to manage their orders and this makes their future purchases much easier. Getting customers to fill in details each time could become a hassle for a return customer. Having an account is like having a small home for customers, they know where to look for past orders, new orders and new product.”
During the first three months using the Rocketspark Customer Accounts feature Li had a revenue increase of 102%.
Six months after was even more of an epic improvement, seeing her revenue increase to 131% from the six months previous.
And for a more long term view, 11 months down the track Li had a revenue increase of 168% from the previous period.
Li said the Customer Accounts feature had increased her business confidence.
“We can see who and how many loyal customers we have and we can stay in touch with them. It’s provided us with a steady turn over increase. I would 100% recommend this feature.”
Li said her top tips for people wanting to break into the florist industry were keeping up good customer services, making sure your skills were up to date and stocking the best fresh flowers was the key.
“If possible, having a well-designed and cool shop is also very Important. I’ve received countless compliments from customers for the new shop I set up in the mall back in 2019 and customers always come back for more,” she said.
If you’re after flowers this Valentines Day, Li said Flowers By Joanne are giving away a box of Valentine's Trio Handmade Chocolates for any 1 dozen roses ordered before 12th Feb.
If you think Customer Accounts might work for you, check out more details here.
If you are a florist and want to know more about what Rocketspark offers, check out our websites for florists page here.
