// Bloom & Wild said the way customers purchase flowers has changed due to the pandemic
// Customers have been purchasing bouquets of flowers as “substitute hugs” to friends and family
// Demand for floral deliveries spiked in the first lockdown when high street stores closed
Bloom & Wild has reportedly witnessed a rise in flatpack bouquets, which can fit through a letterbox, as Covid-19 has changed the way consumers purchase flowers.
The online retailer said customers have been purchasing bouquets of flowers as “substitute hugs” to friends and family during the pandemic.
Demand for floral deliveries spiked in the first lockdown when high street stores closed but has continued at twice its previous level even in periods without restrictions.
Bloom & Wild co-founder Aron Gelbard said the UK flower market, usually worth between £2 billion and £3 billion a year, has been growing as people have been unable to visit each other, The Guardian reported.
Bloom & Wild has logged 780,000 of these “just because” orders over the past year.
It uses software to scan messages that accompany deliveries in an anonymised way and picked up the word “brighten” 162,000 times.
The online retailer said its sales will finish “substantially north” of £100 million in the year to March 31 and forecast a “significant” profit for the period.
Bloom & Wild recently pulled in £75 million from new investors in a fundraising that brings the total raised to almost £100 million.
The backers include General Catalyst – an early supporter of Airbnb – and Index Ventures, which has backed Facebook and Just Eat.
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