Reliable packaging for the online plant trade - well received
Do you regularly ask your customers about their experiences with packaging and delivery? Our customer example YouPlant shows: Packaging is the Achilles' heel of the business model in online retailing. If you implement the right solution here, positive customer reviews are as good as certain.
YouPlant is a plant retailer based in Munich with a packaging warehouse near Nuremberg. The start-up sells house plants in matching plant pots in different colours and materials, thereby tapping into a promising market niche.
YouPlant has been online for a little over two years, with the resourceful supplier starting out with 40 to 45 different plants. These are delivered from the Netherlands to the warehouse and shipped immediately. This enables YouPlant to offer fast delivery times – and also to charge shipping costs only once, regardless of how many plants the customer orders.
‘I contacted Klingele via their website – and not only did we get a prompt reply, but a member of the field sales team also paid us a visit in Munich very quickly. In terms of responsiveness and customer focus, Klingele was streets ahead,’ reports Benjamin Viehmann, Head of Fulfilment and Purchasing at YouPlant.
Shipping packaging for tall potted plants:
No "off the shelf" solution
As we all know, plants have their own individual "personality" and shape, so YouPlant was not served by "off-the-peg" packaging. In view of the robust transport conditions via DHL, the packaging also had to be designed to secure the plant at the bottom so that it would not slide upwards and be crushed during shipping. Our team in Hilpoltstein initially developed a solution based on FEFCO-0201 standard packaging in three different versions. These were further customised into ten different versions, which are adapted to the respective plant sizes and weights. In the shipping packaging for heavy plants, for example, the pot is securely anchored to the base of the packaging using a construction consisting of padding and cable ties. Our one-piece packaging for the individual shipping of tall potted plants such as palms, on the other hand, fixes the plants with pots of different heights using press-fit tabs - guaranteed to hold.
Shipping packaging for heavy plants:
Flexible in use - and suitable for growth
YouPlant's product range has grown continuously and dynamically since its launch and now includes around 240 different plants and different pot diameters. Thanks to a particularly flexible design, we only need a total of five different box sizes for this large number of variants. A good prerequisite for further growth: YouPlant plans to launch more planters in different materials and colours in the near future.
YouPlant experienced a huge boom during the coronavirus pandemic: the number of daily orders jumped from around 100 to 300-400. "Klingele's internal and external sales teams provided us with excellent support during this time too, and Klingele went through this phase of rapid growth with us without any problems."
This was of crucial importance for YouPlant's business model: especially in the initial phase, customers asked many questions about logistics - which ultimately proved to be the most important factor for acceptance in the market. "Customers' uncertainty as to whether online plant trading would actually work was palpable: many customers only ordered one plant at the beginning," recalls Viehmann. YouPlant adapted to this and demonstrated the packaging and shipping process on social media, among other things. But the customers themselves also shared their experiences, which resulted in many positive reviews for YouPlant.
Which is also a reason for us to be pleased: "Klingele beat the competition with a mixture of different factors," summarises Viehmann.
Good personal contact, competent support, excellent cooperation with the technical department - and last but not least, the proximity of the factory in Hilpoltstein to our warehouse. Everything was simply very uncomplicated.
Viehmann Benjamin, Head of Fulfilment & Purchasing at YouPlant
And we want to keep it that way: We are currently developing a box for a set of 6 plants for YouPlant. Background: YouPlant's target group has so far been private customers - but now the start-up wants to tap into the market for business customers. After all, operators of open-plan offices, photo studios and other businesses also want to make their premises more homely again after the long social distancing phase - and what could be better suited to this than plants that can be ordered with one click and placed in the right place with a matching planter?
Read our success story with YouPlant
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