The Business Model of Urban Stems

It may seem simple to order a bouquet of flowers and have it delivered to your home, but a lot of work goes into such a task.

On this week's Modern Retail Podcast, Seth Goldman, the CEO of online flower and plant delivery service UrbanStems, discussed the ins and outs of the e-florist business.

Over the last two years, UrbanStems saw year-over-year growth in both 2020 and 2021 -- even after the company shut down its local delivery services in March of 2020, which resulted in a 60% decline in its business at that time. But when things reopened in July, the company was back on track and "revenue growth continued to scale," said Goldman. Indeed, sales grew 130% in 2021.

Now, with these two years in the rearview mirror, Goldman says he's figuring out what parts of the business to invest in. "For all brands, it's about starting to make sure that all of those customers that tried us out are sticking," he said.

Venture funding is helping with that. Last year, Urban Stems raised $20 million, giving it a valuation north of $100 million. This year, Goldman is trying to continue figuring out how to best use that money.

One of his focuses is on building out the infrastructure that allows the company to deliver its flowers. Meanwhile, Goldman is also investing in both the technology and user experience side of things. Lastly, the company is also investing in its team and growing its headcount.

Goldman spoke about all of those aspects of the business -- infrastructure, technology and talent -- and how he's thinking about prioritization. "There's a lot of work to continue to do across all three," he said.