For two Penn alumni, online flower business is blossoming

Business is blossoming for 1997 Wharton graduate Bryan Burkhart and 1998 College and Engineering graduate Sonu Panda.

Last April, the two former software engineers launched H.Bloom, an online subscription-oriented flower company that offers customers the opportunity to have fresh flowers delivered to their door.

Both Burkhart and Panda worked in the software industry but left in 2009 because they wanted to “start a business from scratch and apply technology to a really large market that hadn’t seen much innovation,” Burkhart said.

After researching different markets, the two turned to the flower industry ­— despite Panda’s allergy to pollen — when they realized that the $35-billion-a-year business in the United States still did not have a strong online presence.

“We heard from both corporate and consumer customers that they view flowers as an integral part of their interior design and want to have fresh flowers regularly,” Burkhart said. “Sonu and I thought, ‘Gee, the subscription business would be perfect where they could sign up once, set the schedule of when to receive the delivery and then just enjoy having fresh flowers every week or every other week.’”

Prior to H.Bloom, most of the online flower ordering companies only offered gift-giving services. The rest of the flower market was made up of “22,000 mom-and-pop shops around the country that operate in what we think is a very antiquated fashion,” Burkhart said. He explained that these types of stores have to pay “exorbitant retail rents” and waste about 30 to 50 percent of the flowers they buy. However, H.Bloom had a “tremendous economic advantage” of “virtually eliminat[ing] spoilage by only ordering what someone has subscribed for.”

On HBloom.com consumers sign up for the type of collection they want — with prices ranging from $29 to $150 — the day they want them delivered and the frequency of delivery. They also have the opportunity to pick between two different bouquets each week. While on vacation, the service can be paused or donated to a local charity.

“Essentially, as a consumer you’re getting the luxury of flowers that you would get at a high-end boutique at a price point more closely aligned to what you would pay at a grocery store, and with the convenience of delivery right to your door,” Burkhart said.

After launching in New York, H.Bloom has since expanded to both Washington and Chicago. In each city, H.Bloom has a non-retail space where flowers are shipped in from overseas and where H.Bloom’s flower artists arrange the bouquets.

“We want to handle the entire process because we want to make sure that the experience is luxurious for those customers,” Burkhart said.

They have also launched the SEED program, where they train future entrepreneurs “with the idea that somebody can graduate from the SEED program and move to a new city to open and run that market,” he said.

The first graduate of the program is now running H.Bloom in Chicago.

As for Philly? “Sonu and I are eager to get there soon,” Burkhart said.

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