Our Art Director Tatyana Yermakova was open and sincere while answering the straightforward questions of gorgeous Elena, who won the title of the real Flowers Revizor in Instagram world.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: When did the idea to do floristic come up?
Tatyana Ermakova: The company was founded by Alexei Parkhomenko and Larisa Shen 8 years ago. They have been the owners and generators of ideas till now.
In the beginning, the business had a workshop and Internet shop Don Pion (middle segment) completed later with LoraShen (premium segment).
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: What was the concept?
T.E.: It would be difficult to put it in brief, but I will try.
Firstly, we think of the most affordable price compared with premium products of competitors.
Secondly, we are capable of performing any orders and satisfying any whims, even if it’s an order “against the clock”, means to be done over the night, for any events, sometimes quite sad events. We can implement serious and large-scale projects.
Thirdly, in our product line we always have bouquets without packaging.
Fourthly, we maintain a steady price-quality balance.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: Who designed the LoraShen Studio interior?
T.E.: The owner herself.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: Who are your clients?
T.E.: Absolutely anyone. And it is really so. We have 3 shops of different kind, and each one has somewhat specific client pool. The shop in Hyatt Hotel serves mostly foreign guests and hotel residents, in TSUM – there are many tourists and downtown office workers, in LoraShen Studio – our flagship shop – we have various types of clients from school children, who buy several flowers for their mothers to our regular clients. We encourage client loyalty offering the discount system of up to 10% (the highest rate).
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: How big is an average receipt?
T.E.: 500-1200 UAH.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: What is the most expensive bouquet?
T.E.: This year it was one bouquet for 12 thousand.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: How big is your team?
T.E.: 150 people.
Unlike an ordinary flower shop, we have our own engineering department, ceramics department, welding department, art department. We also have managers, call centre, other. When we engage in the project, everyone performs his/her own work: designers decorate, landscape designers make landscape design, and florists make arrangements of the sites.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: What is your goal? What is your plan for 2019?
T.E.: This is our commercial secret. As this year is still gaining the momentum.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: What channel generates the biggest sales revenues?
T.E.: The largest volume of sales is made offline by our regular customers, the people who learn about us due to our participation in exhibitions (we take part in many landmark events in the city) and besides, our works speak of themselves, and the word of mouth marketing works well :) In our case, Instagram works 50% in favour of our image and 50% for the sales growth.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: % of writing-down?
T.E.: We try not to exceed 10%. Every day, we change water selectively and in a day – in all vases.
We do not order very expensive flowers, flowers of inappropriate size and quality. The basic flower purchased is seasonally associated, but at the same time, we need to have various colour combinations in our showcase.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: How many orders per day do you get?
T.E.: Starting from 20 per 1 shop
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: Do you have any concept of the floristic refrigerator showcase?
T.E.: Yes, we always have a wide range of flowers. We prearrange bouquet options: 1) without packaging, 2) with packaging, 3) small-size compositions, 4) in boxes. The price range is from 350 to 650, 1000, and higher. Today, the most expensive bouquet in our showcase costs UAH 3,450.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: What is your most successful project or the biggest achievement?
T.E.: We have many successful and large-scale projects which we may not discuss due to the client’s request. But we also have projects we are proud of. This is a decoration of Boryspil airport for a New Year seasonal holidays, Roshen shop-windows, and annual BFA decoration.
And our achievement is our tough, creative and selfless team, which is capable of performing any task!
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: There are many shops in the chain, of course, various incidents happen, how do you handle the negative stuff?
T.E.: We have developed the system: if anything happens to a flower within 3 hours, we surely replace it. If later, then we consider each situation individually, trying to understand the reason, what caused the client’s dissatisfaction, and we are trying to satisfy every client. Our company adheres to the principle “Client is always right”. If at the stage of the bouquet collection some florist sees that he/she cannot come to an understanding with the client (we mean cannot meet the aesthetic expectations of the client), the florist may transfer the order to the other florist or a senior employee of the shift.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: The biggest mistake? Did you have any failures?
T.E.: We have tuned the operations over these years to have no mistakes: the system is well adjusted. Moreover, we have set up our own call centre to receive the orders with double registration of the orders, both on the form and in the log.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: Is it possible to find a job in your company?
T.E.: We are always open to new talents who are not afraid of work and are ready to create high-quality floristic product with us. The vacancies are always available, we have HR department, and our contacts can be found on our website. We also hire people with no previous experience.
FLOWERS_REVIZOR: What advertising channels do you use?
T.E.: They are many. First of all, the clients satisfied with our products often recommend us to their friends and colleagues. The word of mouth marketing proves to be very efficient in our case. As to participation in the most significant exhibitions and city events – we have a nose for it. We know exactly what event would be the most interesting to our prospective clients. Besides, we cannot do without social networks – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. The regular work with mass media, partners and influencers. And, of course, our product –it undoubtedly speaks for itself. We take all efforts to create high-quality affordable product, which will be required by people.
Thank you for having read it through!:)
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