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From Seed to Bloom: Botany Melbourne Grows with BigCommerce
Discover how customizable, cost-effective and reliable BigCommerce is and why we built it that way.
113%
increase in site visits
86%
increase in orders
68%
increase in revenue
Performance metrics compare July 1-September 28, 2021 to April 1-June 28, 2021.
A blooming idea
“Thank goodness for flowers” is one of the first things you’ll read when you go to Botany Melbourne’s ecommerce store — and thank goodness is right. While many parts of the world were easing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the people of Australia, and Melbourne in particular, were under strict lockdowns that kept friends and family far apart.
Through this challenging time, many individuals saw gloom. Ellen Douglas, Founder and Owner of Botany Melbourne, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to spread joy and love in an environmentally-friendly way. She started Botany Melbourne, an online-only florist where customers submit their orders and have their arrangements hand-delivered by Ellen herself.
Challenge
Turning an idea into a reality
Ellen’s plan was to open a fully-online florist that served her community with eco-friendly materials and ecologically-sourced products. But for her business to work, she needed a platform that could meet her unique needs.
At a previous job, Ellen had used Squarespace to run the company's website, but after doing some research of her own, she found BigCommerce and began comparing the two. Ellen had three main criteria that her chosen platform needed to meet. Her platform needed to be:
Rich in features
Scalable
Easy to use
“Being a florist, I knew that the tech side of [the business] was not going to be my strong point. I'm not very savvy when it comes to all of that stuff. So to find a platform that had it all in-built and did it for me was very important.”
Solution
BigCommerce makes ecommerce easy
After a few months of research — and even starting a trial on both platforms — Ellen’s decision was simple. BigCommerce won out. However, what set BigCommerce apart from the competition?
BigCommerce’s feature-rich platform gave Ellen the tools she needed to succeed. Not only was she looking for a platform that would give her in-depth analytics reports, but also one that would help with SEO.
“It's literally ‘fill in the blanks,’ everything to do SEO. You don't have to go, ‘Oh, what do I need to do?’ You just fill in the blanks on the page, and then it works,” Douglas commented.
It has also given her the ability to add new products, descriptions, and images with ease. As Ellen’s business grew, BigCommerce gave her the ability to scale her website accordingly. And, with all of the features that BigCommerce offers, she was able to easily set up and configure her store to meet her unique business needs.
“It's literally ‘fill in the blanks,’ everything to do SEO. You don't have to go, ‘Oh, what do I need to do?’ You just fill in the blanks on the page, and then it works.”
Ellen Douglas Founder and owner, Botany Melbourne
“Being a florist, I knew that the tech side of [the business] was not going to be my strong point. I'm not very savvy when it comes to all of that stuff. So to find a platform that had it all in-built and did it for me was very important.”
Ellen Douglas Founder and owner, Botany Melbourne
Results
Locked-in growth during lockdown
Through the longest known lockdown in the world — and all the challenges that come with opening a business during it — Botany Melbourne has become a budding success. BigCommerce’s easy-to-use platform paired with Ellen’s desire to spread joy throughout her city have proven to be a winning combination.
The brand’s performance for Q3 (July 1-September 28, 2021) compared to Q2 (April 1-June 28, 2021), showed Botany Melbourne experienced a 113% increase in site visits, a 68% increase in revenue, an 86% increase in orders and a 72% increase in customers.
Looking Ahead
A shining future.
Thankfully (and hopefully), there are no more lockdowns in Melbourne’s future. That sunny outlook extends to Ellen’s business. She knows that, in order to scale, she will not only need to make more sales, but also have the backing of a platform that will help her at every step along the way.
One of the areas that she has considered expanding into is email marketing. With BigCommerce’s Open SaaS platform, there are plenty of integrations available to choose from to meet her specific needs.
Ellen also plans to expand on her goal to create a sustainable business and expand on her eco-friendly values. “There’s a company in Melbourne that makes industrial composting systems that you can set up on-site. It breaks down all your green waste in a few weeks instead of months,” she says. “That way, I can deal with 100% of my green waste, then take that compost back to the farms and they can use it in their own gardens.”
Whatever the future holds for Botany Melbourne, Ellen Douglas is certain that BigCommerce will be right alongside to scale with her.
Published: December 2021
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