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“In Matt's words, the critical question was not, "How do you go headless?" but rather, "How do you platform?" His perspective underscored the importance of strategic alignment: "Your strategy should dictate your tech stack, not the other way around."

Matt Powell

Former CTO

 

FTD's pioneering journey from traditional floristry to tech-enabled gifting

FTD, a pioneer in the floral industry since 1910, embarked on a transformative journey to become a leading tech-enabled gifting platform. Known for its innovative use of telegraph technology, FTD was quick to leverage the power of the digital age, but eventually faced the necessity for reinvention. As the market rapidly evolved, they needed to redefine their identity and vision to empower local businesses through cutting-edge technology.
 
 

The challenge

Faced with the challenge of supporting a multifaceted e-commerce model, FTD aimed to provide their worldwide network of florists the tools to craft unique, localized website experiences. They sought a flexible, yet consistent digital ecosystem to enhance website performance and optimize developer workflows.

In this journey, FTD found its strategic tech partner in Nacelle. Offering a unified API, Nacelle streamlined access to FTD's vast product, collection, and content data, weaving them into a cohesive digital environment. This significant partnership allowed FTD to avoid the complex task of creating an infrastructure within its Progressive Web Application (PWA), thereby simplifying processes and reducing resource needs.

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The result

Nacelle's flexibility as a standalone or supplemental composable commerce platform enabled FTD to seamlessly integrate it with other components of its tech stack. By ingesting product and commerce content from Salsify, Contentful, and Shopify, Nacelle allowed FTD to repurpose content effortlessly. The integration with Algolia and React also optimized search results and enriched the user experience by providing customers with accurate, real-time product listing content tailored to their specific needs.

The impact was notable, with FTD seeing immediate gains post-launch with Nacelle. Key metrics like conversion rate, average order value and NPS improved, while site speed and developer efficiency were enhanced. By focusing on value creation and innovation, FTD was able to do more with less.

Ready to learn more about FTD's tech transformation journey?