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Amarante London founder Kiran Seehra on the impact that Clearpay has had on her business.

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It’s been just over a year since <a href="https://www.amarantelondon.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Amarante London</a> founder Kiran Seehra enabled Clearpay for her preserved flower business - and since then Clearpay has driven tens of thousands of referrals and increased the average order value by 160 per cent.“Clearpay has become extremely important for our business,” says Seehra, who notes that Clearpay’s shop director drove 17,000 referrals to her website in February 2020 alone.

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Shopping with services like Clearpay is the norm for Millennial and Gen Z now.

She says that Clearpay is especially important for brands looking to reach young audiences. “Around 80 per cent of our customer base is between 18 and 30 … [and] I think that shopping with buy now pay later services like Clearpay is the norm for Millennial and Gen Z now.”Seehra adds that she has appreciated the personal approach from Clearpay’s team. “I don’t think I could do business without [Clearpay and] [our Clearpay account manager] Lara. I’m on the phone to her every week. Quite often you’ll [come across] brands that will only work with you if you’re [a really big business]. What’s really nice about Lara, and I think Clearpay in general, is that [there is a focus on] small business.”

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Amarante London founder Kiran Seehra on the impact Clearpay has had on her business.

Amarante London founder Kiran Seehra explains how Clearpay increased her average order value and drove tens of thousands of leads to her business 

"How Clearpay increased our average order value": Amarante London founder 

Amarante London: “Clearpay has increased our average order value.”

Amarante - “Clearpay has increased our average order value”

Kiran Seehra explains how her business found an innovative solution to the florist industry’s environmental challenges.

In the midst of ongoing lockdowns in 2021, Kiran Seehra found hope and inspiration in her customers’ stories.As the founder of preserved flower business <a href="https://www.amarantelondon.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Amarante London</a>, she is privy to some of her customers’ happiest moments – from birthdays to anniversaries, new babies to engagements – and during COVID-19 these everyday celebrations were a reprieve from the gloom of lockdowns.“I loved seeing all the wonderful messages that people send, especially during COVID-19 when things were really difficult for everyone. People couldn’t travel but they could still send flowers. It’s a really lovely business to be in."<h2>Make it sustainable</h2>A former financial analyst – and long-time lover of flowers - Seehra launched Amarante in 2019. She came up with the idea after learning about the damaging environmental effects of fresh flowers.

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“Fresh flowers are intensively farmed, [often] in less developed parts of the world, where farmers, unfortunately, are still exploited. And then they tend to be flown around the world a few times [by plane] from wholesaler to wholesaler to retailer… so they come with huge carbon emissions.Her solution? To work with a B-Corp-certified farmer in Ecuador, who supplies roses which are then preserved. “Because we go direct to the farm, we avoid the huge carbon emissions."

People couldn’t travel but they could still send flowers.

Seehra founded Amarante three years ago – and since then the brand has grown to a seven-figure business with dozens of staff.She and Amarante feature in Clearpay’s Make It Your Way series, which celebrates small business owners who are creating businesses of the future, and carving their own path to success.

<h2>Make it sustainable</h2>A former financial analyst – and long-time lover of flowers - Seehra launched Amarante in 2019. She came up with the idea after learning about the damaging environmental effects of fresh flowers.

We go direct to the farm to avoid huge carbon emissions.

Today, Amarante is a zero-waste business, with all bouquets created once they are ordered “so we don’t hold any stock of finished products”.<h2>Make it my way</h2>Seehra admits that building Amarante has been a steep learning curve. “I basically built the business by watching YouTube videos. They have been my source of knowledge on everything!”In the early days, she says her biggest challenge was finding enough hours in the day! “I was basically working around the clock. I was the customer support [person] and the marketing manager and the operations [manager] – and I was having to do all these things I’d never done before.”<h2>Make it customer first</h2>Seehra credits much of her success to Amarante London’s focus on customer service. The business has excellent TrustPilot and Google Reviews, and offers fast, same-day delivery.

Seehra and her team also take a personal approach to customer experience.“With every order that we place, I still send an email to the customer saying thank you. It just genuinely still means that much [to me].”<h2>Make it with Clearpay</h2>Offering Clearpay was an extension of Amarante’s focus on positive customer experience - and Seehra says that a significant proportion of her customers now use Clearpay, which has helped grow average order value.“I think that shopping with services like Clearpay is the norm for young people now and they expect businesses to have it."

Shopping with Clearpay is the norm for young people now. They expect it.

As COVID-19 restrictions recede, Seehra continues to enjoy the optimistic and positive aspects of her floristry business – as well as the fast pace.“It’s very chaotic. Two days here are never the same. You just feel like you’re on adrenaline the whole time. But I enjoy that.”

When Kiran Seehra launched Amarante London, she was determined to improve the eco footprint of floristry.

When Kiran Seehra launched Amarante London, she was determined to improve the eco footprint of floristry 

Amarante London: Meet a sustainable florist 

The sustainable florist Millennials love 

Make it sustainable: Amarante London

Preserved flower business <a href="https://www.amarantelondon.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwndCKBhAkEiwAgSDKQXA40KKEZioPfpr10SWb2IUqNSpfMaba7hKqM1_0YTK5l-_8VYcfpxoC4sQQAvD_BwE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amarante</a> has gone from from start-up to blooming success in just three years&nbsp;

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Kiran Seehra has always loved flowers.Before launching her florist business, the former financial analyst loved nothing more than strolling around Covent Garden Market searching for the perfect blooms.It was only when Seehra (who goes by the name Kay) began researching the industry in earnest that she began to appreciate the damaging environmental effects of fresh flowers.“Before the flowers reach our coffee tables, [there are huge consequences] on an environmental and human level — from intensive farming, exploitation of growers, and the huge carbon footprint of flying flowers around the world.”Her solution? To work with Fair-Trade-certified farmers to grow fresh roses and then preserve them. “Infinity roses, we call them,” she says of her preserved flower brand, Amaranté, a name derived from the Greek words amarantos meaning unfading and anthos (flower). Amarate also offers other dried flowers and preserved bridal bouquets

It’s an idea that’s been eagerly embraced by fellow flower enthusiasts. In the past three years, Amaranté has become a seven-figure business with more than 30 staff. The brand sells to individual customers via its website, and also has wholesale agreements with venues such as <a href="https://www.sohohouse.com/houses/white-city-house" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">White City House</a> (Soho House’s west London outpost).Key to the brand’s success has been a customer-centric focus from the very beginning.

<h2>Great customer service always pays off&nbsp;</h2>Seehra promised herself she wouldn’t settle for anything less than her best – a tough goal but one that Amaranté’s <a href="https://au.trustpilot.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trustpilot</a> and <a href="https://support.google.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Google reviews</a> now reflect. “We have the highest-quality product on the market, that is the secret to our success – a truly great product. All handmade in the UK, each hatbox of flowers [the roses are presented in colourful brushed-suede hatbox-style lidded containers] takes skill, time and artistry to craft.”

“We also have fantastic customer service and swift delivery or collection options, which has resulted in thousands of positive reviews,” says Seehra. The company offers same-day delivery from £4.99, tracked next-day and nominated-day delivery, and same-day or scheduled click-and-collect from the Amaranté store, located five minutes from <a href="https://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Westfield Stratford City</a> in east London. International delivery is also available. “The nature of buying flowers is inherently impromptu and last minute, so we offer everything from same-day London delivery to next-day global shipping,” she continues, “as well as scheduled delivery for those special occasions. We need to be as convenient for our customers as possible.”

“Every customer is assigned and looked after by one of our personal shoppers. We often get reviews thanking them personally for a great experience.”

“Every customer who shops with us is assigned and looked after by one of our personal shoppers, and that has led to a high number of reviews from customers thanking them for a great experience.”&nbsp;“We’re ranked Trustpilot’s top for flower delivery, an incredible feat considering we don’t sell fresh flowers...”

<h2>Embracing growth while staying true</h2>

Seehra’s approach to marketing was no less comprehensive. Early on, she learnt the power of “the five Olympic rings: a great website, social media, PR, email and advertising. Social media was integral to the brand in the beginning – it still is – and our first 50 purchases came via Instagram.”This blanket marketing has paid off and the company is now a seven-figure business. “We grew 10-fold in the past 12 months, since we started scaling up in July 2020, and are forecast [to achieve] the same for this year. We want to take Amaranté global and be seen by more people in more places and more frequently.”Today the brand has more than 30 employees, with plans to double the workforce in the next year. Seehra says that hiring her first employee and moving from her bedroom first to an office space in Essex for three months, then to another in the same area for nine months, before settling into the company’s current Stratford home, was the “best decision” she ever made. “The worst decision was not doing it sooner. I had the security of a well-paid job but the thought of leaving that was daunting.”

“When we started, Clearpay gave the brand credibility and added trust.&nbsp;”

“When we started, Clearpay gave the brand credibility and added trust,” says Seehra. It has made the brand more accessible to new customers and, as a direct result, Amaranté has seen “an increase in traffic on the website from the Clearpay marketplace”.“Because Clearpay allows people to pay in four instalments, it attracts customers who may not have otherwise considered buying from Amaranté because of our high average order value (AOV). Clearpay allows you to fit buying around your lifestyle, and the support we get from our SMB relationship manager, Lara, has been fantastic. We are so grateful to Clearpay.”&nbsp;Amaranté founder Kay Seehra’s tips for achieving a brand with perfect reviews:Don't sacrifice good for perfect “These wise words I learnt from one of my mentors: make it good enough; improve it based on feedback, then rinse and repeat.”Don't underestimate the work involved in a start-up “Be prepared to do whatever it takes, and work whatever hours are needed to get it off the ground.”Don't listen to too many opinions “It’s important to have a clear vision that is broken down into smaller goals. Believe in yourself, rather than the opinions of everyone else, and it'll make all the difference.”

Learn how great customer service helped turn this small start-up into a booming success in just three years. 