Online shop for florists: selling your bouquets and having them delivered

“I’d like to send a bouquet to my mother, for tomorrow, with a little note.” You get this phone call every day, often when your hands are in a bucket of water. An online shop takes these orders for you: the customer chooses the bouquet, writes their message, gives the recipient’s address and pays. All you have to do is arrange and deliver.

123Ventes is an online shop designed for craftspeople and shopkeepers who would rather be in the workshop than at the computer. Here is how an online shop answers the questions that come with being a florist.

How can I sell flowers online when they don’t travel by parcel?

You don’t hand a bouquet to a carrier for three days on the road: a florist’s online shop sells first and foremost close to home. Two options are enough:

• Delivering it yourself: you or your delivery driver take the bouquet to the recipient. You set your delivery charges by zone, for example free in town and paid in neighbouring villages.
• In-store collection: the customer orders and pays online, then comes to pick up a bouquet that is ready. It is the ideal option for the customer in a hurry at Saturday lunchtime.

Potted plants, dried or preserved flowers and decorative objects, on the other hand, travel well: they can be sent by parcel anywhere in France. The carriers are described on the delivery options page.

Can my customers add a card with their message?

Yes, and it is often what makes the customer order from you rather than somewhere else. In 123Ventes, the personalised card is a ready-made option in the options library: you add it to your bouquets, and the customer sees a “Card with your message” box when they order. They write their note in it (“Happy birthday Mum, lots of love”), up to 150 characters, a length you can change.

• You choose the price: a card at 1 €, or free by setting the price to zero.
• The message arrives with the order: you copy it onto the card, with no misspelt first name and no need to call the customer back.
• One option can be used for several bouquets: you create it once, and add it to each product page in one click.

In the same way, gift wrapping, a ribbon, a vase or a box of chocolates can become options, each with its own price.

How should I present bouquets, arrangements and plants?

Sort your creations by category and subcategory: bouquets, arrangements, roses, foliage and flowering plants, orchids, dried flowers, funeral, wedding, gifts. The customer looking for “a bouquet for a birthday” finds it without scrolling past the office plants.

The same bouquet in three sizes? A single product page is enough: you offer the sizes as options, each with its own price. For the florist’s choice bouquet, arranged with whatever has come in, say so clearly on the product page (“photo for illustration only, arranged with the day’s flowers in these colours”): the customer knows what to expect, and you keep your freedom. Everything is set up from catalogue management.

How do I organise the day’s deliveries: address, date, time?

The person who orders is almost never the person who receives. When ordering, the customer gives a delivery address different from their own: their mother’s, their friend’s, the wedding venue’s. In the order comment, they give the day they want, the time or the door code.

To stay in control of your delivery round, set your ordering hours: the shop only accepts orders during the time slots you choose, for example your opening hours. Orders arrive in writing, with the full address, and you plan your round in one go instead of jotting down phone calls on the corner of the counter.

How do I prepare for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and All Saints’ Day?

On those days, the phone never stops ringing and the shop is overflowing. Open pre-orders a few days before: your customers choose their bouquet and pay in advance, and you know how many roses to order from your wholesaler. Show the order deadline on each product page.

When you can’t make any more, enter the real stock of each holiday bouquet: when the last one is sold, it can no longer be ordered, and nobody is disappointed on the day. A newsletter to your customers, a week before, does the rest.

Can I sell funeral arrangements and wedding flowers?

Yes, with the tact they call for. For funerals, a separate, understated category with your sprays, cushions and wreaths lets a family or colleagues order without travelling, with the address of the funeral home or the ceremony and the ribbon message in the comment.

For a wedding or an event, every request is different: the online quote lets the couple describe their project, and lets you reply with a firm price that they accept and pay online.

Can I take bookings for my floristry workshops?

Yes. A Christmas wreath workshop, an introduction to bouquet making, a workshop among friends for a hen party: each one becomes a date to book, with a number of places. Your customers book and pay online, and you prepare the right number of secateurs. See the online booking page.

What rules apply to selling flowers online?

The rules of distance selling apply, with one useful special case: cut flowers and bouquets are goods that deteriorate rapidly, and under French consumer law the 14-day right of withdrawal does not apply to these products. Say so in your terms of sale. For potted plants, dried flowers and objects, the right of withdrawal applies normally in principle.

The other obligations also apply: legal notices, prices shown including all taxes, terms of sale. If in doubt, your chamber of commerce (CCI) or chamber of trades (chambre de métiers) will advise you.

I already sell in my shop: how do I keep a single stock?

At the counter, the 123Ventes till records sales with the same stock as the online shop: you don’t sell online the last orchid that left the shop that morning. For bouquets made to order, you simply show a preparation time on the product page.

Business customers (restaurants, hotels, offices, agencies) can form a group of customers with its own discounts. And the customer file keeps every order: as a birthday or Mother’s Day approaches, a newsletter reminds your customers that you are there.

How much does a 123Ventes shop cost for a florist?

The subscription costs 29.90 € a month or 319.90 € a year, with hosting and the security certificate included, and it only starts with your first order: you set up your shop without paying anything. 123Ventes takes no commission on your sales: only your payment provider’s fees apply, about 1 € on a 50 € order paid by card. If you would rather not do anything yourself, the turnkey set-up costs 400 €. The details are on the pricing page.

Trades with needs close to yours

Does your business overlap with other trades? See also how to take chocolate orders before the holidays, open a delicatessen online, sell handmade candles online and sell cards and posters online. And before choosing, read our step-by-step guide to creating a shop.

Your questions

Does 123Ventes take a commission on the bouquets I sell?

No. 123Ventes costs a fixed subscription of 29.90 € a month, whatever your turnover, even on Valentine’s Day. Only your payment provider’s fees apply, just like with your card terminal. And the subscription only starts with your first order.

Can the customer write a message for the bouquet card?

Yes. The “Card with your message” option is ready to use in 123Ventes: you add it to your bouquets, the customer writes their note when ordering (up to 150 characters), and the message arrives with the order. You set its price, or offer it for free.

Can a bouquet be delivered to an address other than the customer’s own?

Yes. The customer enters the recipient’s address as the delivery address, and gives the day or time they want in the order comment. You deliver it yourself, with your charges by zone, or the recipient comes to the shop.

Can flowers be sent by parcel?

Not cut flowers: a bouquet doesn’t cope well with several days in transit. Sell them with local delivery and in-store collection. Potted plants, dried or preserved flowers and decorations, on the other hand, can be sent by parcel.

How long does it take to put my bouquets online?

The shop is created in a minute. After that, allow about ten minutes per bouquet, photo included. Start with your most popular bouquets and the message card, then add plants and holiday arrangements as the seasons go by.