The initiative is in line with the trend of growing online sales. With apparel and food already established as popular online purchase categories, PostNL has now set its sights on the potential offered by the flower and plant market. PostNL is promoting these sales by giving more online retailers the option to market flowers and plants in addition to their regular product ranges. Consumers can use the Flora@Home platform to order directly from the growers, thereby eliminating the need for online retailers to maintain their own stock.

PostNL handles the rest of the process, from carefully packaging the flowers and plants to the delivery to consumers. This simplifies the process from order to delivery, ensuring that products remain fresh even longer after they reach the consumer. The specially developed packaging has a built-in watering system that supplies the flowers and plants with water and protects them while in transit.

Opportunity for online retailers

The sale of flowers and plants is a massive market in the Netherlands and across Europe, with European consumers spending roughly €30 to €35 billion on flowers and plants a year. The share of online flower and plant sales has been low to date, hovering around 2-4 per cent in most countries. However, this is expected to increase substantially in the coming years. There are currently only a small number of online retailers offering flowers and plants in conjunction with their existing product ranges, and online retailers now have the opportunity to increase their revenues by marketing these floriculture products.

Since PostNL makes the Flora@Home platform available free of charge, online stores do not need to make any substantial investments to add flowers and plants to their product ranges: all they need to do is add an API link to their IT system to connect growers with their online store.

Logistics process

Online retailers do not need to worry about the logistics process: once a customer has placed an order online, it is forwarded directly to the grower. The latter then prepares the order for shipment and ensures that the flowers and plants are delivered to PostNL’s Aalsmeer site, where PostNL packages the order for dispatch to domestic and international destinations.

The Flora@Home platform will initially be available exclusively to online stores in the Benelux countries, although online retailers based in one of these countries have the option to market flowers and plants in various other European countries.

The platform will be operational at the end of June. Online retailers can sign up for the service now through the website.

Source: PostNL