Arena Flowers adds video messaging to its bouquets

Customers of online florist Arena Flowers can now send a video message along with their bouquet.

In what’s billed as a world-first for the floristry industry, customers can opt to upload a special video message to be delivered at the same time as a floral gift. The bouquet is delivered along with a card containing the URL to view the video message on the website of UK-based Arena Flowers.

“Understandably, those that use it, love it,” said Arena Flowers chief executive Will Wynne. “This is just one weapon in our armoury of personalisation and it is a great way to highlight how different and innovative we are.”

The video technology is provided by business video hosting platform vzaar, whose API is integrated into the Arena Flowers website. Vzaar powers the videos on the Arena homepage, while they are also uploaded to YouTube.

Arena chief technology officer Sam Barton said: “The API integration process went very smoothly. We went from deciding to implement it to having the feature live in a couple of days.”

Stephen McClusky, chief executive of vzaar, said: “We’re really pleased to have integrated with a forward-thinking company like Arena Flowers to provide such a thoughtful and personalised gift experience to their customers.”

Arena Flowers, founded in 2006 by Will Wynne and Steve France, sells through six own-brand websites in the UK, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Luembourg, France, Ireland, Austria and Denmark.