Business Owner Zigs and Zags Through Pandemic

Pre-Covid Online Strategy Gave Caroline’s Organics & Floral Design a Head Start

Bingley said the pandemic has “changed retail dramatically.”

Article by John Campbell/Images submitted

Campbellford - The pandemic has cast a long shadow since its emergence one year ago but that hasn’t stopped Caroline’s Organics & Floral Design from bringing sunshine into people’s lives.
“We’ve learned to zig and zag,” owner Caroline Bingley explained when asked how she’s been able to adjust to the new reality that COVID-19 has created.
The changes she’s made are working.

“We’re doing great,” Bingley said, then adding with a note of regret that “there are a lot of businesses out there that are not, so that is heartbreaking to see.”

She was forced to close her business on Front Street South in Campbellford for “a very short window” before moving more of her business online.
The sales order system was in place before the pandemic disrupted everything, “so our business was ahead of most businesses who were not prepared to move themselves online,” she said.

“My online services were about 70 per cent and 30 per cent walk-ins, and then we went almost 95 per cent online (with) curbside pickup.”

Having her shop stay open during the darkest days of the pandemic meant a lot to the public.
“When somebody can’t see their loved ones they generally send flowers so we were the catalyst to continue to bring sunshine into a really depressing reality.”
“And that’s what we did, we brought sunshine to people’s days.”
Business “definitely increased,” Bingley said, and much of it was to cheer people up and help them get through the pandemic.
“It was more to improve people’s mental health,” she said. Recipients were “ecstatic.”

But meeting people’s needs “was a challenge. People still expected and wanted the same service of walking in the door but they couldn’t so we have (had) to learn how to offer different options for them.”
Her shop was still locked down for Valentine’s Day, so “we loaded our front window like a cooler and created a visual for the guys to pick out what they wanted,” Bingley said.
“The biggest thing is you have to learn to be flexible, and if you’re not going to be flexible you’re not going to make it.”She had to put special protocols in place for deliveries, for example.

Bingley said the pandemic has “changed retail dramatically” and she’s had to look at her online business “differently” as well as what she buys, to find out what works and to quit doing what doesn’t.
She’s glad customers can come into her shop once again with the province having lifted some of its restrictions recently.
“It means a lot, the personal contact,” Bingley said. People are also a lot “happier (being) able to shop and look around at things. Online has its benefits but it definitely has its negatives as well.”
She had to cut down on the number of people she employs, going from seven to three.
She doesn’t know when she will return to a full complement.

“The walk-ins are still not there. People are still scared. They’re not exploring as much as I was hoping (they would) but that may change as COVID … starts to go away, hopefully, sooner than later.”
She’s optimistic about what’s to come in the months ahead.

“I see us being very busy,” Bingley said. “We have about 56 weddings booked for this summer, because all the weddings from last year got moved into this year.”