As the year-end holidays approach, shopkeepers in Nice expect an even larger clientele and a shopping spree. Thanks to the Click and Collect service adopted by most of them, customers can order and pick up their products, which will serve as Christmas gifts. This is the case for Nicolas Rivoallan, a florist from Nice.
Since the adoption of this online ordering system, most shopkeepers have experienced real commercial success in their stores. Nicolas Rivoallan has been a florist since the age of 17. Born in Nice, he takes great care of his flower and decoration shop, which was threatened with closure due to the outbreak and lockdown.
An Advent Wreath for Christmas
Advent wreaths, tulips, daffodils… Various flowers and decorations are displayed in the shop window of “Monjardin,” located on Notre-Dame Avenue, where they can be admired by passersby. However, the 37-year-old florist from Nice, like many others, has experienced difficult times since the first lockdown in March last year. As of the end of October, he expected to face the same problems again, but thanks to the Click and Collect system, he was able to reconnect with his clientele, restore his sales, and make himself known to new customers.
“Since last April, we have been taking orders by phone and internet, then we deliver the purchases or customers pick them up themselves. The Click and Collect service allows us to maintain connections with our old customers and to attract new ones who were not familiar with the shop. In addition to our integration into the Facebook support group, our clientele is growing more and more.”
In his “Monjardin” shop, Nicolas tries to catch customers’ attention with these bouquets of flowers, complemented by Christmas decorations displayed in the window and throughout the store. Here, we sell a lot of advent wreaths, but also decorative items like nutcrackers. With this, we manage to make passersby dream, despite the rather gloomy context.
Is Click and Collect a 100% Beneficial Service?
In Nice, 50% of florists have closed their shops, considering the service not profitable. For Nicolas and his colleagues, the system “represents more demanding work than the traditional one.” In other words, taking orders by phone or internet and having the purchases picked up at a specific point of sale require more organization and stricter management than the work mode before the first lockdown, before the massive use of “Click and Collect.”
Today, the shop has received more orders compared to last spring, and both old and new customers say they are very satisfied. The Click and Collect system will certainly not replace the usual sales methods, but it is a complementary tool that benefits many shopkeepers.
