SA Florist breathes new life as Bloomable
South African online marketplace SA Florist has rebranded to Bloomable, with the aim to redefine itself in the market and expand its focus beyond flowers.
Bloomable announced as an affiliate partner for the new TFG online marketplace.
TFG aims to have at least 40 affiliate brands on the marketplace by 2020 financial year end, Bloomable is the marketplace’s flower and gifting launch affiliate brand.
SA Florist appoints a new Managing Director
Melissa Cumming has been announced as the new Managing Director of SA Florist. Melissa brings over a decade of experience to the SA Florist team.
Soweto's Black Female Florists Are Blossoming
An innovative programme to upscale the black women florists of Soweto is creating a new industry in the area, historically not overly supplied with florists.
SA Florist training and peer-to-peer mentorship program
Using marketplace technology, SA Florist has launched a programme to on-board township florists through an ecosystem that has been established to assist entrepreneurs to launch sustainable businesses.
SA Florist helps township businesses bloom
Owner of Mande Bloom in Soweto, Gertrude Mentoor, says this initiative is a great platform for florists to display their talent. "Receiving guidance through such a wonderful program, increases business opportunities and gives us the necessary exposure to become an established florist."
A four-month pilot project was launched by SA Florist in Soweto to empower independent florists
SA Florist intend to expand their on-boarding programme to transform the industry as a whole.
SA Florist kicks off peer-to-peer mentorship program
The newly launched SA Florist programme uses a two-pronged approach, combining training and peer-to-peer mentorship. The aim is to play a pivotal role in using technology to transform townships by creating market access.
SA Florist launches programme to onboard township businesses
A four-month pilot of its new programme has been launched in Soweto to empower independent florists that are owned by black women and service the township area.
SA Florist helps transform township businesses
Using marketplace technology, SA Florist has launched a programme to on-board township florists through an ecosystem that has been established to assist entrepreneurs to launch sustainable businesses. It plans to attract, upskill and support at least 30 entrepreneurs over the next three years.
TFG and SA Florist partner to encourage customers to say thank you
Isn't it time to say thank you? TFG (The Foschini Group) has partnered with SA Florist to encourage you to applaud those who have helped shape who you are on Grandparents' Day (2 October), Teachers' Day (5 October) and Bosses' Day (17 October). Meet 3 media personalities, TV presenter Katlego Maboe, TV chef Zola Nene and talk show host Keegan Basil as they share their personal stories of gratitude.
Say thank you with TFG online
Isn’t it time to say thank you? TFG (The Foschini Group) has partnered with SA Florist for 3 special days in October to help you applaud those who have helped shape who you are. By sharing any of the videos using the #TFGsaflorist hashtag and telling TFG your story of gratitude, you could win a rose gold Kitchen Aid, plus one of six SA Florist vouchers worth R500 each.
Financial Mail: Entrepreneur: Nicholas Wallander
TO TAKE on the industry heavyweight requires a leap of faith in your ability to be a serious market disrupter. Nicholas Wallander took that leap on Mother’s Day three years ago when SA Florist opened its online doors.
ITWeb News: Online flowers for Valentine's Day
ITWeb interviews SA Florist's MD, Nicholas Wallander.
World-class customer experience key to e-commerce success
Delivering a world-class customer experience is key to becoming a leader in e-commerce, with this especially the case in smaller economies such as South Africa where customers are more valuable and need to be treated with great care. This is according to Nicholas Wallander, co-founder of SA Florist, an e-commerce marketplace that offers hand-made flower arrangements and artisanal gifts from local traders.
SA Florist goes for the 'WOW' factor
To gauge customer experience, SA Florist launched its Customer Experience Barometer in November 2015, which allows it to track and score its customer experience dynamically. It then publishes all reviews, aggregates the scores and presents this as a dynamic score on the home page of its site. This score gives its customers confidence that SA Florist delivers orders with the relevant care and attention.
Getting Your Startup to Bloom
Leaving a corporate job to move into entrepreneurial waters is never an easy leap, but it’s one that saflorist.co.za founder Nicholas Wallander took a year a year ago, after securing one of the largest investments ever made on reality TV show Dragon’s Den. Here are the lessons, from bootstrapping a beginning, to keeping a clear head and scaling.
Say IT* with flowers. How the Internet of Things is transforming the business of doing business
It's a success story that starts, ironically, with the flowery failure: the demiss of the independent florist run by Wallander's mother. Killed by the Internet. Or rather, by the rise of the giant Net-based hyperflorist that dominates the SA market.
Pioneering On Demand Economy in South Africa
Heralding of a new era in flower delivery and also pioneering On Demand Economy in South Africa, SA Florist has now launched its revolutionary 'Same-Day All-Day' delivery service called Zoom Bloom. The industry is already calling SA Florist the 'Uber of Florists'. The On-Demand Economy is defined as the economic activity created by technology companies that fulfill consumer demand via the immediate provisioning of goods and services.
Flowers on call, anytime
Fresh flower e-commerce and delivery company, SA Florist, has said it will now offer a ‘same-day all-day' service, called Zoom Bloom. Customers are able to order flowers online between 9am and 4pm, not the usual noon deadline for same-day delivery. There is a two-hour wait time after purchase.
Die Uber van blomme
Vir mans wat by die werk sit en skielik besef hulle het vanoggend vergeet om vroulief geluk te wens met haar verjaardag, is daar SA Florist. Dié webwerf laat jou toe om vinnig en goedkoop vars blomme te bestel vir aflewering – amper soos Uber.
The Deal Behind The Deal: How SA Florist Tamed Their Dragon
In November 2014, founders Nick Wallander and Fraser Black competed against a number of start-ups to secure a R3.6 million investment on Dragon’s Den South Africa, with Vinny Lingham, a big-name technology investor, now living in Silicon Valley, leading the deal.
Blooming Good Business Sense With SA Florist
Nicholas Wallander and Fraser Black, founders of SA Florist, the successful start-up that recently wowed crowds at Tech4Africa, kept attendees enthralled especially on how SA Florist has managed to marry the traditional local, neighbourhood florist concept with world-class technology.
Interview With Bruce Whitfield
Bruce Whitfield, host of The Money Show on 702 and CapeTalk interviews Nick Wallander from SA Florist.
Small Business Awards Finalist
It's ironic that SA Florist has been nominated as a finalist in this years' Cape Talk Small Business Awards as we actually champion small businesses! We're saving small businesses every day!
SA Florist Reinvents The Online Florist Industry
SA Florist has developed a revolutionary new way of buying and selling flowers and gifts online. SA Florist has created an online marketplace that gives independent florists a way to compete online.
Small Business Awards Finalist
SA Florist was one of 20 finalists from more than 350 nominations received by Cape Talk for their 2015 Small Business Awards Program.
Dragons’ Den SA episode 11: Stop & Smell The Flowers
SA Florist aims to disrupt the online florist industry in a couple of ways: on one front, it functions as an online marketplace where traditional florists are given an online presence. On the other, it acts as a network for those florists, challenging the likes of Interflora, which is stuck in a world of faxes and printed sheets of paper.
Ventureburn Goes Behind The Scenes On SA Florist’s Dragons’ Den Deal
SA Florist certainly makes a compelling case study of the show’s (Dragons' Den) impact. First off, at R3.6-million, it’s one of the largest investments on the show to date. Secondly, all five dragons were involved in it and third, taking the deal has resulted in immediate and very visible changes for the company.
After the Dragons: How One Big TV Investment Changed SA Florist
Ecommerce store, SA Florist may not have received the largest investment from Dragons’ Den South Africa, but it was one of the more interesting stories. For one, all five of the Dragons came in on the deal, a rarity on the show. Founders Nicholas Wallander and Fraser Black were also made to sweat for it, going through one of the longest pitches in the show’s global history.
SA Florist To Take Gifting To The Next Level, Brings Hope To A Wilting Industry
It’s a wilting industry but one that has a lot of potential nonetheless. Independent florists struggle to play catch-up with an increasingly online dominated world and persisting monopolies. On the other hand, many of them simply don’t have the capacity in terms of financing their own fully fledged ecommerce sites as well as having access to large product volumes of stock to compete with bigger online giants.
