Relationships are blooming, and so are the businesses that serve them. Those in the relationship services nitch have seen an uptick.
Relationships and Valentines Day
The following written content from Perri Ormont Blumberg
Since launching at the end of October, personalized online florist Floracracy has seen its business explode. “Our amazing team of artists and letter writers take stories sharing all different kinds of love — romantic love, parental love, love toward friends and even that special gratitude in business — and use their fluency in the language of flowers to create visual experiences that share those stories,” said founder and CEO Sarah-Eva Marchese, of the company she founded that ships lush, personalized bouquets to the lower 48 states.
But the road has not been without bumps.
“We were supposed to launch formally in April 2020,” she said. “However, we had to shut down our warehouse for a few months. We ran ‘pay what you can’ campaigns, where people literally could send flowers for zero dollars. We had people gift teachers… We had people give to families who had lost someone from COVID-19.”
The team has grown by 60 percent since the fall, and they’ve experienced a 25 percent repeat purchase rate. No surprise given that during a time of intense isolation, the personalized heartfelt notes that accompany the blooms go a long way.
“Flowers have historically been our ‘language’ when we could not be together, or we simply didn’t have the words to express ourselves,” said Marchese. “These ancient rituals have suddenly become our most powerful means of being present for each other.”
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Apeksha Kothari, COO of engagement ring marketplace Rare Carat, has jewels in her blood as the fifth generation of her family working in the diamond industry. Little did she know what hardships the pandemic would bring.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, it was scary and business was quiet,” she said. “The shock set in, and most couples put life-changing decisions on hold.”
As the pandemic dragged on, some relationships accelerated. “Couples moved in [together] earlier, they spent more time with each other,” said Kothari. “And they came to the decision of whether they want to spend time with each other forever quicker.”
That led to a major growth spurt, with business increasing five times over and the Rare Carat crew more than doubling their team, powering more than $100 million in diamond sales annually.
An Oxford grad and Harvard MBA, Kothari has learned to never let a good crisis go to waste.“When things are crazy, people are open to trying things they would not have otherwise. We were able to tweak our business model, offering special guarantees with the support of our partners.” Read more from NY Post
