Apps for young people revive an old business model
Recently I've noticed that fresh flowers have been delivered to my house every week. One day they were red roses; another day they were white lilies and there were also times when I even couldn't tell their names.
When asked, our young ayi or domestic helper told me she had ordered all the flowers through a new app, just like the way she now buys clothes, groceries and lunches. To me, it seems our e-shopping experiences have been taken to the next level, from buying at the moment of need to ordering something regularly delivered to your door.
In the past couple of years, subscription flower apps have flourished, with weekly deliveries to customers over a period of one to six months. Our ayi's app, that charges 100 yuan ($14.38) to 800 yuan depending on the length of time and packaging, claims it has received more than 5.2 million orders from women members.
