How Nidhi Gupta’s Shades of Spring is Transforming

It all started during Nidhi's courtship days with her now-husband, where they realized the bouquets available were overpriced and lacked variety. This sparked their interest in the world of flowers. Their travels to flower farms in France and the Netherlands deepened their love for flowers and inspired them to bring this experience to India.

Nidhi started by offering flowers to her apartment residents through a weekly subscription model. What began with a few subscriptions quickly grew to 200+ weekly subscribers within six months, all through word of mouth. Social media played a significant role in accelerating their growth, especially when an influencer shared a post about their flowers, causing sales to skyrocket.

In 2018, Nidhi left her e-commerce job to focus full-time on Shades of Spring. Today, the company has thousands of subscribers and offers a variety of flower gifting options, including bouquets, flower boxes, wreaths, and baskets. Nidhi attributes much of their success to their loyal customer base, who have provided valuable feedback and helped continuously improve the product.

What sets Shades of Spring apart is its exclusive focus on flowers. Unlike established players who offer diversified products, Shades of Spring specializes in flowers—both for private consumption and modern gifting. They offer 500+ exotic flower varieties with a high degree of quality control.

The company has been successful in changing the perception of flowers from a luxury reserved for special occasions to an everyday indulgence for millennials seeking aesthetic experiences in their homes. Nidhi shares, “We’re breaking the traditional model of flowers being expensive with a short shelf life. Our floral subscriptions start at just Rs 275 per box, offering exotic flowers delivered within 24 hours of harvest.”

While the company has seen remarkable growth, it faces challenges in expanding its farmers’ network and scaling up due to a lack of capital. “We are a bootstrapped business but need more resources to expand faster,” Nidhi explains. Additional capital would enable deeper penetration within Bangalore and expansion to Mumbai and Delhi, as well as investments in the backward supply chain to ensure better control over quality and variety of flowers.

With its unique approach and experiential model, Shades of Spring is poised to revolutionize the flower gifting industry in India. Nidhi’s vision is to continue building a sustainable model that connects people to the joy of flowers, every day.