Floward: Scaling customer service and boosting team efficiency with a unified contact center solution

Floward, the go-to online flowers and gifts delivery destination in MENA and UK, is on a mission to bring joy, convenience, and thoughtfulness to gifting. The company’s vision is to be the world’s most innovative and reliable destination for all gifting.  

Floward’s innovative eCommerce platform quickly became the first-choice destination, enabling customers to effortlessly browse stunning floral arrangements and a variety of gifts and send them to their loved ones with just a few clicks. 

The global flower delivery services market is projected to reach $10.1 billion by 2031, underscoring the power of Floward’s vision and the industry’s immense potential. 

However, this success came with its challenges.

Long wait times, generic responses, and the inability to cater to individual preferences challenged their customers, especially during peak seasons such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. It was clear that a new approach was needed to keep up with the company’s rapid growth while preserving the warmth and intimacy that made Floward special. 

Additionally, Floward found itself navigating a constantly evolving landscape. The ever-changing demands of consumers, intense competition, and rapid technological advancements require constant adaptation and innovation. While Floward’s platform offered convenience, the company recognized the need for a more personalized and efficient customer support system to cater to its growing and loyal customer base. 

Floward decided to embrace technology to enhance, rather than replace, the human touch. They partnered with Infobip to integrate omnichannel capabilities into their platform and create personalized customer journeys over channels of their customers’ choice.

WhatsApp Business Platform, Instagram, and Messenger were strategically chosen as their primary channels because of their immense popularity in the MENA region, as evidenced by a 146% increase in mobile app messaging and a 51% increase in WhatsApp usage on our platform in 2023. 

Using our chatbot building platform, Answers, Floward built smart chatbots that seamlessly integrate into WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. If customers need to track the delivery or want to add a personalized note, the chatbot can handle it effortlessly and in a conversational way. This frees human agents to focus on more complex issues, ensuring customers receive personalized attention. 

If a customer’s question was too complex for the chatbot, they could easily connect with a live agent, all within the same chat window, thanks to our cloud contact center, Conversations. This seamless transition ensured that customers never feel abandoned and that their queries are always addressed promptly and efficiently. 

Using our customer data platform, People CDP, Floward can collect and import data from any source to gain important insights about customer behavior and preferences. 

And it wasn’t just customers who benefited. They could track agent statistics to identify performance trends and optimize training. 

Take this example: Mother’s Day, a day when the demand for floral arrangements surges—in the past, such peak seasons had put immense strain on Floward’s customer service. Customers, anxious about ensuring their gifts arrived on time, often flooded the support lines with repeated queries. But now, the narrative has changed. Customers who eagerly await their same-day deliveries can easily track their orders in real time, receiving instant updates on their bouquets’ journey. Any questions or concerns are swiftly addressed through their preferred channels, providing immediate reassurance and maintaining the excitement of the occasion.

Similarly, for Valentine’s Day, Floward’s diverse range of gifts, including cakes, chocolates, and perfumes, makes it a one-stop shop for surprises. Imagine finding a stunning bouquet and a chocolate box you know your partner will adore. Even if you don’t have your partner’s office address, Floward has you covered. With the option to send gifts using just a phone number, they coordinate the delivery seamlessly to ensure the surprise remains intact. Throughout the day, you receive real-time updates on the status of your delivery, from preparation to dispatch and, finally, delivery, ensuring a seamless and joyful Valentine’s Day experience.  

The impact was felt all across their customer support operations. Agents found themselves empowered with tools that streamlined their workflow, and customers experienced quicker, more efficient resolutions to their issues. 

The company gained valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and pain points with the data they now collect. This information was used to identify areas for improvement, optimize customer support strategies, and ultimately deliver a more personalized and seamless experience. 

Additionally, the chatbot, in particular, proved to be a valuable asset. They smoothly guide new customers through the process, while existing customers’ orders are automatically retrieved based on their phone numbers. If customers need additional support, they can easily connect with an agent. Chatbots were crucial in reducing agent workload by handling general inquiries and responding instantly to customers. 

However, the actual test came during peak seasons, such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. On Valentine’s Day 2024, they received 54,000 conversations in a single day, compared to 4,000-5,000 conversations on a typical day.  

Floward efficiently handled this significantly high number of customer interactions, with a 14% cost reduction.

Customers felt heard, understood, and valued, strengthening their loyalty to the brand. What’s more, Floward’s customer support team felt empowered and motivated to deliver exceptional service. 

By embracing technology and data-driven insights, Floward not only overcame its customer support challenges but also set a new benchmark for the industry. The company’s commitment to innovation and personalized experiences continues to blossom, ensuring that every customer feels like a valued individual, no matter how large the company grows.