DS Smith has worked with Bloom & Wild to create bespoke decorative boxes for hand tied flowers.
Bloom & Wild, the inventor of letterbox flowers, is the brainchild of Aron Gelbard’s vision to deliver flowers to customers even when they aren’t home. Flowers are sent in bud and wrapped in petal protectors, allowing the company to post bouquets imagined by some of the world’s best floral designers in beautifully printed boxes that fit through the letterbox.
Bloom & Wild has established a series of design-led partnerships with creative brands including Liberty and Morris & Co. The selected prints on the outside of the box often inspire the choice of flowers inside, increasing the impact of the gift and offering customers an exclusive experience. The company now offers five exclusive promotional seasonal packs each year, with three designs available in two sizes.
Sara Blount, sales manager at DS Smith said, ‘We work very closely with Bloom & Wild to ensure that their unique packaging designs are reproduced in the highest quality. These promotional packs deliver a real visual experience for customers so it’s vital that the packaging and its print is bright and colourful, to give the brand experience that Bloom & Wild are known for.’
The nature of the litho and digitally printed boxes – exclusive to DS Smith in the UK – impressed Bloom & Wild. The process allows for a high-quality print without the corrugated flute being compressed. This is achieved by printing both the interior and exterior designs on roll, before the flute is placed between the layers and they are laminated together.
Winston Murphy, business development manager at DS Smith, explained that one advantage of using digital printing was the ability to print multiple language variants used as part of the launch, and the potential to add personalisation on the inside of the box at a later date, both with a minimal setup costs to Bloom & Wild.
Mr Murphy said, ‘The narrow deckle digital web printer at Belper allowed the optimum size for printing and bringing the inside digital printed reels to the outside litho printed sheet with minimal waste and set up, along with the ability to bring the registered outside and inside print off the corrugator at Lockerbie.’
During the design process, DS Smith also has the ability to print and produce packaging samples.
Kerry Dowse, supply operations lead at Bloom & Wild said, ‘DS Smith’s ability to create live samples of our packaging is vital for bringing our flamboyant ideas to life so that we can continue to evolve and ‘wow’ our customers. The team gave us a fully personalised approach, which fits our needs perfectly and has a hugely positive impact on our business.
‘An added benefit for us, while we continue to expand, is the stock-and-serve service that DS Smith provides. By stocking both our Kraft and exclusive letterbox designs, we’re able to hold more packaging stock in the build up to key gifting holidays and ensure that we can give our customers the superior service and experience they deserve.’
In the last eight months the stock facility used by Bloom & Wild has tripled in capacity, evidence of the company’s rapid growth. The construction of the boxes, originally a manual process, has now been automated by DS Smith to support Bloom & Wild’s growing market volume.
The partnership has also led to the centralisation of the production and design of Bloom & Wild’s statement letterbox packaging, ensuring an enhanced customer experience while the company scaled up its production volume.
Sara Blount, sales manager at DS Smith added, ‘It’s fantastic to support Bloom & Wild as it continues to expand its e-commerce flower and gift offering. Through our unique print and manufacturing capabilities, and our stock-and-serve service, we’re delighted that we can help deliver the renowned customer experience that Bloom & Wild has at its foundation.’
