Bloomon has taken the crossborder step into four different new markets in its more than two and a half years of existence. "We quickly saw that there was more potential in the entire market for us than just the Netherlands.
So says Reinoud Haal, Global Head of Growth at the online flower subscription company, ahead of his presentation at the CrossBorder e-commerce Event on Sept. 6. 'We want to become a global brand, so then scale is very important,' he continues. 'That ambition and the fact that there was interest abroad in our concept meant that we quickly crossed borders.'
Focus on current markets
After the relatively quick start in its four foreign markets, Bloomon is now entering a new phase. 'We now have the primary focus on accelerating growth in the current markets,' Haal said. 'Of course, in addition we are looking further into other countries where opportunities may lie.'
App
Bloomon received hefty investments several times, the most recent being a round worth 21.4 million euros. This will strengthen 'the IT and marketing side'. Haal: 'We want to further improve convenience for customers and growers, for example by digitizing the platform at the back end as well, so that growers can get the flowers to us more easily.' And there would be a mobile application. 'That's right,' says Haal. 'But we don't have a specific launch date yet. I think we won't roll it out immediately in all countries then, but we'll first see if it catches on in the Netherlands, for example.
Learnings
'I want to talk at the CrossBorder e-commerce Event about some of the learnings Bloomon has gained from operating in five countries at once,' says Haal. 'This is because it allows you to do a lot of testing, but it also brings a lot of challenges. For example, why does a certain campaign do well in the Netherlands and Germany and not in the United Kingdom and Belgium? Those are interesting lessons.'
