eFlorist had an internal PHP-based system which had done a good-enough job for several years but was starting to break under the strain of their rapid growth and the cumulative effect of a lot of different developers adding to and updating the code over time.

Challenges

This was to be a very powerful, secure web-based system. One of the biggest challenges was the lack of control over how the members accessed it: because all the florists in the network are independent, there is no consistency with operating systems, browsers – or even individual knowledge and understanding of technology.

It had to complement the florists business, not interfere with it – and be easy enough to use to ensure there was no need for training. five one two stepped up to the challenge and created a Java based system accessible securely through the web by member-florists. The technology stack, both for the application and infrastructure, was designed to be enterprise grade ‎from the start. Scalability, performance, adaptability, resilience and redundancy were all key characteristics of the platform.

The platform was based upon standard J2EE (Java Enterprise) code in a three tier model consisting of front end web tier, middle tier business logic (inc APIs and back office integrations) and a database tier based on MySQL technology.

The industry standard 3 tier model has served eflorist well, scaling with continued business growth over the past 5 years and coping with significant spikes in demand during peak operating periods; such as Valentines Day, Mothers Day, etc. The platform has been undergone continuous development during this period, releasing new functionality and enhancements to customers on a regular basis.

Features

We worked with eFlorist to identify what was most important to their members. The core system needed to relay orders across the world, but beyond that they wanted to create a community for florists where they could share knowledge, best practices and assist each other in the day-to-day running of small businesses. They also wanted to provide tools to help the florists run their businesses better, for instance wedding funeral planners and financial tools.

We also had to connect florists to orders from the eFlorist website and internationally and make sure product information was easy to access and use. A new feature created is a wedding planning tool to make it easy for florists to flourish in the lucrative marriage market.

Development

This was a complex Java-based project.

There was a lot of data to manage and handle, such as a complete central database of all the products in the eFlorist range, and many complicated features – including a full financial app built into the system for billing, invoicing and transaction recording.
As with all projects we worked within our Agile Methodologies framework, keeping the client regularly updated and incorporating their feedback throughout the project, not just towards the end.

Launch & Results

The launch was tricky – there were some initial problems with integration and data access, but our team reacted quickly to the problem and worked day and night to solve the issues in the quickest possible time.

Not everything can work perfectly every time, but both we and the client were pleased with the way the issues were dealt with – calmly, promptly and professionally.

The resulting software is powerful, flexible and efficient. It helps place eFlorist ahead of their competition and is a key factor in attracting new florists to the network.

“five one two developed and subsequently supported the eflorist.net platform successfully over a six year period – a relay network and membership platform for florists. The business critical nature of the system means it needs to be always available to our members; weekdays and weekends – throughout the morning, afternoon and evenings to transact their daily business. five one two provided a top notch service, supporting the system and it’s 1,600 members across our UK and Irish businesses. I would thoroughly recommend five one two to any business that is serious about its online ambitions, for systems that are customer or business facing and critical to back office operation. We also found Rob, Chris and their technical team to be very personable and we enjoyed working with them.”

Lorraine Key, former General Manager UK & Ireland – eflorist Ltd (part of Euroflorist Group)