Ok, so you know the expression, ‘say it with flowers?’ There really is such an expression and Ode a La Rose goes it one better.
Ode à la Rose is an innovative online flower delivery service available for most of the Northeast market, with an app that allows you to send a personalized message in the form of a video, a photo or voice message with your bouquet, instead of the traditional hand-written note which, let’s face it, is just a bit passé.
Founded by two ex-Wall Streeters who decided to literally wake up and smell the roses, the pair deliver high quality roses (meaning that they even smell like roses) at affordable prices, and already arranged in their spill-proof vase, water included. In fact, NY Magazine even voted them ”Best Flower Delivery Service” in its 2013 Best of New York edition.
Cofounder Olivier Plusquellec tells us about the service , and how this new flower app delivers (and don’t forget that Valentine’s Day is not that far off).
Tell us about the service.
Ode à la Rose is an innovative flower delivery service that provides a premium experience for both the sender and the person receiving the flowers.
How is it different?
Our differences are:
The quality of our arrangements: We make unique in-house high-end arrangements that you can’t find anywhere else and that look exactly like what you see on our website.
This is very different from most big online players (FTD, 1800 Flowers, Teleflora) that operate on a wire service. They sell flowers based on catalogues, send a wire to a local florist who is then responsible for re-creating it. These florists rarely have the flower inventory on hand. As result, the arrangement that is received rarely looks like what is featured on the website.
The way we ship: We are the only pure player to deliver arranged flowers packaged in water, thanks to our state-of the-art anti-spill vase, a first in the US floral industry. Many of our competitors ship loose cut flowers dry or in humid floral foam, which is not ideal for freshness and leaves the recipient with the burden of having to arrange them.
Our customer service: What you see on our website is what the person receives. To guarantee this, we send our clients an actual photo of the arrangement once the delivery has been made.
Our video messenger flower app that enables the sender and the receiver to share a real moment, once the flowers have been delivered.
Tell us about the new flower app.
Our flower app enables our clients to send a personalized message with their bouquet, in the form of a video, a photo or voice message instead of the traditional hand written note. The person receiving the flowers can then respond to that message in the same way and get a conversation started. We came up with the idea when we received many phone calls from clients asking us if we knew how their loved ones had reacted. Through our app, the person receiving the flowers is able to respond immediately after the delivery has been made,providing the sender with a quasi-instantaneous reaction.
Which are your most popular arrangements?
Our most popular arrangement is our signature hand-tied bouquet with a dozen roses delivered in a mason jar.
Which demographic is most likely to send roses?
Our clients are generally over 30 and live in urban areas. Our demographic of clients is split evenly between men and women, even though women receive 95% of our bouquets.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
We are attacking the gift industry and more specifically, the online flower delivery space, a $3Bn market.
What is the business model?
We have a pure player business model. We sell directly online through our website, Ode a la Rose, and we handle the production of the bouquets in-house.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
Our goal is to expand our presence in the Northeast market after having successfully developed our brand in the NYC market.
If you could be put in touch with one investor in the New York community who would it be and why?
We are backed by Aquarelle.com Group, a leading online flower company in Europe, and JMC Investments LLC, a family investment office based in NYC. These are two long term strategic partners who took an equity investment in May 2014. Through this partnership, we have hopefully secured our long-term funding needs.
Why did you launch in New York?
We chose to launch in NY because it’s the perfect market to carry out a proof of concept, thanks to its large and high density population
What’s your favorite NY spot to escape the winter doldrums?
I love to take a walk with my daughter Rose in McCarren Park in Williamsburg.
