Gifting marketplaces in the ecommerce era | a Flowwow interview

Slava Bogdan, CEO and Co-Founder of Flowwow, shares insights into how a niche ecommerce approach, gifting marketplaces, can grow into a global venture. 

What is the story of Flowwow, and how is the marketplace different from other ecommerce players?

A personal experience of arranging a birthday gift for my mum made me realise there was no simple, reliable platform that connected people around the world with local sellers. Flowwow’s other Co-Founder, Andrey, and I saw the potential in the marketplace model (Booking.com and Skyscanner were on the rise) and decided to test this format in the gifting industry. In 2014, we launched Flowwow as a flower marketplace. Five years later, we realised the platform we’d built could offer far more than flowers, and the pandemic accelerated this transformation. In spring 2020, we released over ten new categories in just two months — including desserts, home décor, and jewellery — and doubled our growth. In 2025 alone, GMV increased by 129% year-on-year, and the platform expanded to 25 product categories. What sets us apart, now more than ever, is our focus on gifting rather than on trying to be a universal marketplace. 

For our customers, this niche approach means they’re not overwhelmed by hundreds of irrelevant products; instead, they find curated options suited for special occasions. Quality control is integral to our platform. Every seller must upload a photo of the order before it’s out for delivery, and customers can ask the seller to amend or even cancel if they believe the product isn’t up to standard. As a result, 92% of customer feedback is positive. 

For sellers, our focus on gift-giving means they’re competing in a space where their craftsmanship is appreciated and not treated as just a commodity. We charge no monthly fees, offer transparent weekly payouts, and provide immediate access to both local and international customers actively seeking gifts. A florist in Dubai isn’t lost among millions of sellers worldwide: they’re visible to customers specifically looking for flowers and gifts in the same area. This system allows independent sellers to build sustainable businesses rather than offer unjustifiably low prices. 

What I call our ‘glocal’ model (global reach with local talent) bridges the gap between independent sellers and people who appreciate their work but wouldn’t otherwise be able to support it. 

How have seller and consumer behaviours changed in recent years?

The biggest shift I’ve seen in the seller community is a willingness to go digital. Many businesses on our platform are family-run, sometimes with decades of history, and five years ago, convincing them to sell online was a challenge. They needed to be persuaded that digitalisation doesn’t erase a business’s activity but preserves it while providing access on a global scale. Today, it’s the sellers who seek us out to expand their reach. 

On the consumer side, the transformation has been even more dramatic. The classic sales funnel is essentially outdated: people no longer follow a linear path from awareness to purchase. Now, the journey bounces across TikTok, Instagram, and peer reviews. Social commerce has fundamentally changed how people discover and buy gifts. In the UK, social commerce sales are projected to grow to GBP 14.5 billion by 2028. Instagram and TikTok have become discovery and purchase platforms where the entire shopping journey can happen without leaving the app. 

We’re also seeing a shift toward micro-gifting. People are moving beyond traditional, holiday-only gift shopping to sending flowers or cakes mid-week to show support or brighten someone’s day. These spontaneous, ‘just because’ moments have become a significant part of our business, especially post-pandemic, when people have become more intentional about maintaining relationships. 

In the UK, especially, we’ve noticed the growing significance of supporting independent brands. Research shows that 63% of UK consumers prefer local businesses, and 70% say they’re willing to pay more for products from local sellers. Many Brits value supporting SMEs and appreciate the authenticity of artisan work over mass-market alternatives. 

In cross-border ecommerce, localisation and personalisation go hand in hand. How do you approach this as a global marketplace?

Localisation and personalisation were once perceived as ‘nice to have’. Today, they are key drivers of conversion and customer loyalty. 

Our approach is multi-layered. First, we adapt the product range according to the area’s preferences or pain points: in Brazil and Spain, hampers are incredibly popular for celebrations; in the UAE, classic and luxurious bouquets, especially red roses, hold cultural significance; in Turkey, customers appreciate affordability and reliability. We research these cultural tendencies and ensure they’re reflected in the local range. 

Second, localisation goes far beyond translation. We learned this the hard way in the UK, where we missed the importance of postcode-based address searches. Consequently, initial users struggled at checkout, and we lost sales. Now, before entering a new market, we map out how local users interact with similar products, from address formats to checkout flows. We’ve also implemented automatic translation features, enabling customers to communicate easily with sellers, thus helping overcome language barriers. 

Third, offering a variety of payment methods is essential. We support Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, and UnionPay, among others, and also strive to integrate local payment systems in every country we expand to. Our research shows that payment method preferences vary significantly by market, and if you don’t offer an option that customers trust, you lose them at the last step. 

Finally, we ensure thorough localisation around cultural events and holidays. In the UAE, we create curated gift collections for Ramadan and Eid. For Ramadan, we even collaborated with an Arab artist to create Ramadan Moments: Heart to Heart Talks, a card game designed to help families spark meaningful conversations during iftar. In Spain, we prepare specials for Sant Jordi, the day of books and roses. In Brazil, Carnival invites unique gifting patterns, and we encourage sellers to create such offers. These efforts help us show we understand what matters locally. 

Which technology advancements are you most excited about, and how do you see them used in online shopping?

AI is, without a doubt, the advancement I’m most excited about. I’d particularly highlight the rapid development of vibe-coding and AI-assisted development tools. AI has already transformed the way we operate across multiple departments. It helps us rapidly test hypotheses and create prototypes of new features in days, not weeks, which significantly saves our team’s resources. We use it in marketing campaigns, too: in fact, our branding was created with AI assistance. We used Midjourney to generate thousands of creative assets, accelerating the process by 20%. 

We’ve recently launched an AI Gift Assistant, powered by ChatGPT. Instead of browsing numerous options, users describe the occasion, the recipient, and their budget, and the assistant suggests the perfect gift. It makes the discovery process 30% faster, and for our local sellers, AI-powered discovery increases their visibility and thus competitiveness against huge players. We’ve also introduced an AI customer support bot called Anna, built on Claude Sonnet 3.5 with a RAG approach. It already resolves 30% of support tickets autonomously across 40+ countries and multiple languages. 

However, we keep in mind that we must maintain balance and not lose authenticity; gifting is an incredibly delicate industry. We aim to create a fruitful collaboration between AI and human expertise. The florist’s eye for arrangement remains irreplaceable, while AI handles repetitive, monotonous tasks, leaving creativity to sellers. 

When shopping online, consumers are already turning to AI-powered search. ChatGPT now processes over one billion queries daily, and product listings are starting to appear directly in its search results. I’m certain this will only accelerate, and companies will compete for consumer attention past Google, across multiple AI touchpoints: from ChatGPT to Claude to future AI assistants we haven’t even imagined yet. 

The digital space is increasingly competitive, especially with AI being now mainstream. Which strategies should ecommerce players implement to stay relevant?

Invest in community, not only customers. We’re living in a connection economy: over 70% of brands already have active communities, and the successful ones prioritise two-way dialogue, user-generated content, and exclusive benefits. At Flowwow, 31% of our ecommerce sales come from recommendations — that tells you a lot about the power of community. When people feel part of something meaningful, they go beyond buying – they share, advocate, and bring others into the brand’s ecosystem. 

Staying human is important, especially in an age of automation. We delegate to reduce friction and improve efficiency, but the heart of our product remains AI-free. The handwritten note from a florist, the extra care put in packaging, and the personal touch when resolving a complex support issue create emotional connections to a product that no algorithm can replicate. 

My take is that winners won’t be the ones with the most advanced AI or the biggest advertising budgets. If you use technology mindfully and prioritise creating authentic, emotionally resonant experiences that enrich people’s lives, you will be a company that endures. 

About the author

Slava Bogdan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Flowwow, a global gifting marketplace connecting 18,000+ local sellers with customers in 40+ countries. With 11+ years of leadership experience in ecommerce, Slava has scaled Flowwow from a flower marketplace into a multi-category cross-border platform. He drives the company’s ‘glocal’ (global + local) expansion, building technology and infrastructure that empower independent businesses to reach international audiences.

 

 

About Flowwow

Flowwow is a global gifting marketplace that has transformed the traditional gift-giving industry. Flowwow now partners with over 18,000 local shops across 1,500+ cities and operates in more than 40 countries, including the UAE, Brazil, Spain, Turkey, the UK, Germany, and more. People come to the platform to find unique items from local shops — from flower arrangements and pastries to live plants and gift hampers.