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Exactly one year ago, we spoked to Dennis Sinnema, commercial employee at HouwenPlant, about his experience with Floriday, the challenges of a broad range of products and his expectations for the future. Meanwhile, HouwenPlant has taken the next step: a complete switch to Floriday. We spoke to Dennis once again, this time about ceasing the regular supply in FloraXchange.
HouwenPlant is a thriving family business in Hoek van Holland that grows and sells potted anthuriums and Heliconias throughout the year. The products are grown at several cultivation locations in the Netherlands in accordance with all the top MPS and GGN certificates. HouwenPlant is Chain of Custody certified and prepares all orders at two locations. ‘We studied Floriday in-depth early on. We have been working with virtually all its features for some time, mainly using our SDF software package in which we can enter and process orders. Contract orders are also placed in SDF and Floriday through customer-specific items. So everything is completely automated and Floriday is increasingly leading in this,’ says Dennis.
Wishes on the roadmap
Since last year, HouwenPlant has also been actively using the roadmap: ‘For us, the roadmap works very well. If you have a point of improvement, you can post it here and follow its status. We also hear from customers that they are using Floriday more and more. In fact, they are increasingly asking for contracts to be recorded in Floriday.’
Complete switch to Floriday
As Floriday's features are improving all the time, it was time for HouwenPlant to take the next step. ‘We have about 800 active supply lines in Floriday. We grow all types of Anthuriums from four breeders in six pot sizes and also make various trays. Through all kinds of added value themes we dress up our plants in the right style. We can manage our complete range in Floriday by turning the availability slider on/off at the push of a button. Because many buyers were still purchasing on FloraXchange in 2021, we had to manage this separately in both FloraXchange and Floriday. This was a lot of extra work and tended to lead to errors,’ Dennis explains.
Late last year, HouwenPlant therefore informed its customers it would switch completely to Floriday. ‘As of January 1 this year, we have stopped maintaining the regular supply in FloraXchange. We have emailed or called all customers about this. Of course, we got different responses.’
Buyers want to be able to search the long-term supply
“‘Some customers have told us that they are still waiting for a particular feature in Floriday or that they still can’t order from the available range in Floriday. For these customers, we have also found a suitable solution. Customers can still maintain a weekly list with us anyway. Thus, they can at least still order our current and next week's range through FloraXchange. Because Floriday uploads the weekly list to FloraXchange, we can guarantee that the numbers and prices stated online are always correct.’
One of the features buyers are still waiting for is the ability to create quotes in Floriday and to search for long-term supply. Meanwhile, the quote function can already be used from within Floriday. Also, a new explorer feature that is going to help with long term supply searches is currently being developed and the first buyers are testing it.
You can read more about creating a quote in the Helpcenter
‘Digitisation is the only way ahead’
‘I am convinced that this digitisation process is the only way ahead. HouwenPlant has grown extremely fast in recent times and has 30% market share in Europe. In about three trips, our day trade is delivered and many campaign-based orders are loaded at the growing location. These orders are very diverse and because they go through Floriday there are almost no errors. This prevents stress and hassle for our customers, transporters and for us internally. By means of the ‘purchase tip’ we can also arrange various things for our customers. Customers can still call us, but preferably about other things than orders.’”
‘Start working with Floriday!’
Dennis' message to buyers is clear: ‘Start working with Floriday!’ Call and contact them if something is not working properly. My experience is that Floriday solves any problems soon. And customers can also contact us when they have questions. So we can help each other with buying and selling.’