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Extra Features and Video Online FloristsReview.com R E A D O N L I N E 55 Accessories and Add-ons: Can customers buy anything else? While many flower subscription programs include the ability to change subscription size, House of Lilac offers significant upsell options, including different vase upgrades and an initial vase purchase for wrapped bouquet customers. e company also offers a "vase buy-back" plan, which enables customers to return their accumulating vases for in-store gift cards. Florists with retail lines could easily offer seasonally matched add-ons of small home goods, personal care items, or snacks and candy. Once your program is functioning, look for ways to extend or add to your subscription offerings. Subscription Marketing: How to fill the pipeline Most florists who offer flower subscriptions use them to complement to other service offerings. Flower subscriptions represent 10 percent to 80 percent of their revenues, depending on their chosen models. Point-of-sale displays, farmer's-market booths and word-of-mouth are the usual routes for customer sign-up. All of our interviewees agree that Instagram is their social platform of choice. "A strong Instagram presence is what built our business," Baboun states. "It's our primary channel for promotion. We use scarcity as a motivator and promote 'subscription openings' only twice per year. We take customers year-round, but these 'opening windows' encourage action." "Our customers are highly visual, so we have to have good photos," Joyner notes. "And people love a story behind a product. Make it pretty, and make it personal." Abare uses Instagram, as well, but found success early on with a local public-relations push. "A friend referred me for our first media story, and I saw how powerful it was when calls started coming in," she recalls. "I hired a publicist for a short while and was featured on several local television programs and in several magazines. And that snowballed into word-of-mouth referrals." Systems Check Flower subscriptions offer a baseline of repeat (or at least extended) revenue that can be profitable if your systems are ready. " You must have good administrative systems," Copus points out. "Subscriptions can be a headache if your point-of-sale system can't accommodate them. It depends on your technology and web integrations, so research your capabilities for things like single versus monthly billing and loyalty programs." House of Lilac runs on Shopify. " You need to study, test and iterate," Baboun states. "Select a strong app for your digital infrastructure that can grow with you. And be sure to look at your analytics to evaluate what's working, and then make changes. Don't be afraid to make adjustments." "I recommend hiring a support team, either part or full time," Abare says. "ere's a lot of pressure to do everything yourself, but that can lead to burnout. It's so nice to have a team and not have to do it alone." Abare has expanded her business to include five part-time employees and fill-ins for delivery, as needed. Embrace Change Flower subscriptions aren't a life preserver for lagging profits, but they can add some nice buoyancy to your cash flow, especially during off-peak times. Having a diversified service menu for your customers is like a well-planned arrangement: the right balance of filler and premium. Rob Gooljar, IRIS blossom

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