Rebranding Hive + Hollow
Rebranding Hive + Hollow
Here’s a little background:
I grew up surrounded by flowers, I was practically raised in my mother’s floral studio (Sassafras) in Northeast Minneapolis. In fact I celebrated my 8th birthday there where all my friends and I made (absolutely atrocious) arrangements to bring home.
Fast forward a few years and a few big life events, (moving to Wisconsin, moving to Greece, then back to Wisconsin), my mom opened up a little shop next to a food co-op. The store was named Hive + Hollow. She opened her doors in 2018 as the first sustainable flower shop in Western Wisconsin.
Her little brick and mortar shop was chugging along but in 2019 the unimaginable happened. She was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. At the time I was 16, summer was around the corner and I knew that in order to keep her business afloat I’d have to step in as I was the only one that knew the ins and outs of her business.
I’d always been interested in business development and web design, I took some classes here and there and had some friends give advice and ideas. I hoped to not only have her business make it through the pandemic and cancer treatment, but have it be more successful than ever before. I had big ambitions, some logic, some luck, and a lot of website help forums and blogs.
This is what I did,
This is what I did,
Building an e-commerce website:
One of the first things I did was create an e-commerce platform so customers could order online directly from our shop. I built the website using an e-commerce platform because I didn’t want to sign up for floral companies like Teleflora which are expensive, not very customizable, and don’t allow for the creativity or flexibility that we wanted so I built it from scratch. This was also suitable as I wanted to make a website that reflected the identity and uniqueness of the business my mother created. I wanted it to stand out.
I wanted to create the feeling of intentionality and thoughtfulness. The site is designed to feel organic in nature yet modern in style. During market research and experimentation I discovered the best ways to turn online visits into purchases is by providing people with a meaningful experience, from when they order products online to when they receiving them on their doorstep.
New logo and typefaces:
For instagram I wanted to develop a social media presence that was consistent and representative of Hive + Hollow’s brand identity. I wanted to make sure it felt natural while also showcasing the uniqueness of our shop.
I wanted to get our name out there- something that become an extremely important part of business growth in a oversaturated market. At first I started doing weekend pop-up shops at a well known store, Red’s Mercantile, in Eau Claire. This was a way to introduce ourselves a younger audience. Next we teamed up with local theaters (Menomonie Theater Guild and Mabel Tainter Theater) to offer flowers at shows, then worked with them on fundraisers to publicize our brand. We also participated in giveaways with other local businesses in the area. Finally, I began an email campaign that would allow existing customers to stay in the loop and get dibs on offerings, events, etc.
Publicity:
Project Analysis:
Online Sales (in thousands)
Followers (Instagram)
Email Campaign
Total Subscribers - 781
Average Email Open Rate - 37.0% (12-25% industry average)
Average Click Rate - 6.6% (2-5% industry average)
Average Add to Cart Rate - 16.2% (5.3% industry average)
Average Order Conversion Rate - 13.5% (2-5% industry average)
Average Order Value - $100.44 ($69-$82 industry average)
Total Sales (in thousands)