Learn From the Pros Interested in other ways AI can help your business? SAF’s annual conven- tion, SAF Amelia Island 2026 happening Aug. 18-20, provides education that can help you build AI systems for your shop, learn how to analyze data with AI and more. Visit
safnow.org/events to learn more.
Sundaram Natarajan, founder of the
AI-powered florist software GotFlowers, says what’s significant about these systems is that they are built specifically for floral businesses. “Generic AI doesn’t understand
flower availability, delivery zones or gifting occasions,” Natarajan says. Other florists are using AI to improve
product photography, analyze sales reports and automate repetitive admin- istrative tasks. Rather than replacing decision-making, the technology is helping owners process information more quickly and spend less time on routine work. “If you give it a spreadsheet, it’s going
to be able to write code that does analy- sis for you,” says Paul Guerrie, co-owner of FlowerBuddy, a floral technology company that develops AI-powered tools for wedding planning, event management and florist workflows. Florists can upload sales data to iden-
tify best sellers, spot purchasing trends, and automate recurring reports that pre- viously required significant manual effort. “Spend 90 minutes teaching the AI
how to do it,” he says, noting that it can take time to refine prompts and teach AI exactly what you need, “and next Friday it’s going to happen for you in two minutes.”
From Tool to Teammate Instead of waiting for instructions, emerging AI systems can perform a series of related automated tasks to accomplish a broader goal. These sys- tems are often called AI agents. One example of this is an AI-powered
app Natarajan recently released that can photograph an arrangement, generate a product description, FAQs and website content in seconds. The next step, experts say, is making
those agents context-aware. Rather than relying only on information provided in a prompt, they can draw on inventory, pricing, recipes, customer records and other business data to make more rele- vant recommendations and decisions.
Some floral technology companies
are already developing systems designed to handle multiple business functions. Art Conforti, PFCI, a former florist and owner of the floral marketing firm Bloomerang Solutions, is among those exploring how AI agents could be inte- grated into florist software. He envisions AI assistants that can
update website content, manage social media, identify top-selling products, analyze customer purchasing patterns and assist with ordering decisions. Rather than requiring users to navigate multiple platforms, he believes future systems will increasingly coordinate these activities behind the scenes. “Soon, your AI agent will automati-
cally update your inventory, identify your best-selling products, and analyze the buying needs and preferences of your cus- tomers based on their purchase history within your platform,” Conforti says. Conforti believes that access to busi-
ness-specific information will make AI particularly valuable in customer service. Rather than relying on generic answers, future systems could draw from a florist’s actual inventory, policies and product catalog when interacting with customers. “Your AI agent is a fully informed
employee,” Conforti says. “It will be able to take hundreds of orders at one time and never forget to ask customers, ‘Would you also like some balloons?’”
When Systems Start Talking The most transformative changes may occur beyond the walls of individual flower shops. Joe Don Zetzsche, a floral-industry
consultant and former head of floral for H-E-B, the Texas-based supermarket chain, believes the next major break- through will come when AI systems begin communicating across the supply chain. Today, florists, wholesalers and
growers often operate with limited visibility into one another’s challenges. Demand forecasts can be imperfect.
Weather disruptions may not become apparent until product shortages emerge. Substitutions can often happen reactively. Connected AI systems could change
that. Zetzsche believes AI could eventu- ally allow florists, wholesalers, importers and growers to share information con- tinuously and automatically rather than react to disruptions after they occur. Imagine a florist’s AI agent com-
municating directly with a wholesaler’s agent, which is simultaneously commu- nicating with growers and transportation providers. If severe weather threatens pro- duction in a growing region, the system identifies potential shortages early. Rather than discovering a problem after flowers
How to Start Using AI Many florists struggle with AI because they start with the wrong question.
Instead of asking, “How can I use AI in my business?” Paul Guerrie, co-owner of FlowerBuddy, recommends breaking your work into “building blocks,” he says.
Look for repetitive tasks that happen every week, every holiday or every event: •
Product photography
• Sales reporting • Inventory analysis • Customer follow-up • Marketing content • Wedding preparation
Then experiment with one process at a time. For example: •
Product photography: AI can improve backgrounds, lighting and consistency across product photos.
•
Data analysis: Upload sales spreadsheets and ask AI to identify trends, best sellers and purchasing patterns.
•
Recurring reports: Once you’ve trained AI to generate and analyze a report, you can save the workflow and reuse it.
The magazine of the Society of American Florists (SAF)
31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
