Just a few years ago, a bouquet from a vending machine seemed quite an unusual idea. Today, Floway’s flower vending machines are part of Latvia’s growing self-service retail sector, while our own story has grown from one machine at Riga Airport into a network of 25. We talk about how the business works day to day in “Ir Nauda”.

Photo: Ieva Salmane / Ir Nauda.

Latvia’s vending machine business is growing

Self-service retail in Latvia has extended beyond coffee and snacks for some time. Industry figures suggest there were just under 3,000 vending machines in Latvia in 2020, while the number today may be between 5,000 and 9,000. There are no precise official statistics, but the direction is clear: more and more people are choosing to buy products at a time that suits them, without a shop assistant being present.

For us at Floway, this model also began as a practical experiment. We wanted to find out whether people needed the option to buy a fresh bouquet when flower shops were already closed. Customer interest quickly showed that this way of buying flowers had a place in the market, and that we would not stop at one machine.

Another advantage is that a machine needs relatively little space. Yet behind the seemingly simple solution are technology, cashless payments, remote management and carefully organised servicing. Together, these elements allow the self-service model to work across an entire network, not just at one location.

From one flower vending machine at the airport to 25 machines

We installed our first Floway machine at Riga Airport because it seemed the place where the idea had the best chance to prove itself. There was demand, so we gradually began trying other locations. Today, Floway’s machines are mainly in Riga and the surrounding area, and the network has grown to 25 machines.

As the number of machines has grown, so has our team, and our daily work has changed too. At first, we made bouquets in the garage of a private house. Today, the Floway flower studio in Piņķi is where our florists work and create bouquets for the machines. Couriers deliver them to the machines, and alongside the machine network we have developed an online shop and a physical retail outlet. Around 18,000 bouquets have been sold through our machines in two and a half years.

Today, all our sales channels work together. Online, you can see which bouquets are currently available in Floway machines, choose your favourite and buy it for collection from that machine. You can also buy a bouquet directly at the machine. For us, this brings floristry, e-commerce and physical self-service retail together in one system.

How flowers stay fresh on their way to the machine

Making flowers available 24/7 means that the entire journey from the florist’s hands to the machine compartment matters. We place bouquets in special water reservoirs, transport them in refrigerated vans and maintain a suitable temperature and humidity inside the machine compartments.

Most of this process is invisible to the customer. At the machine, all you need to do is choose a bouquet and pay by card. Online, you can browse the selection in advance, buy your chosen bouquet and collect it from a specific Floway machine. Technology does not replace the florists’ work in this process; it helps bring fresh flowers closer to customers.

Data that helps us plan

Floway machines are more than points of sale. They are part of a single system that lets us monitor sales remotely. The management app shows purchases and stock levels, helps us understand which bouquets are more popular in particular locations and plan routes for restocking. Some machines are refilled as often as four times a day, while Riga Airport still has the busiest turnover.

Data helps us restock in time and understand our customers’ habits better. We can see where demand is higher, how choices change and when we need to react more quickly. As the network grows, it becomes more important to base these decisions on actual sales data rather than intuition alone.

The larger our network becomes, the more important it is to see what is happening in every machine. Technology helps us keep track of each point of sale, while our team can focus on bouquets, quality and making sure flowers reach customers at the right place and time.

Read more about our experience, Latvia’s vending machine market and other self-service solutions in the “Ir Nauda” article “A shop without a shop assistant”.

Author: Floway