Komet Sales merges its solutions with Floral Computer Systems to create a software solution for the floral industry and announces the development of a new "Wholesaler 3.0" solution. This announcement follows news of Komet's acquisition of Unosof, a flower farm software vendor, in October 2023. The combined company now connects more than $2.5 billion of inventory across all three tiers of the floral supply chain - growers, importers, and wholesalers.
Komet Sales is a software provider for floral importers and wholesalers and the operator of the Komet-to-Komet (K2K) E-commerce platform. Floral Computer Systems is the creator of the SMARTSystem, a business management software system for floral wholesalers.
Collectively, with the acquisition of FCS and Komet's October 2023 acquisition of Unosof, the combined companies help their customers manage over $2.5 billion in floral product transactions annually. This represents the largest digital B2B floral network in the Americas. "The acquisition will allow SMARTSystem customers to seamlessly connect to supply at Unosof farms and Komet importers for more efficient floral procurement and time-savings through automation. For Unosof and Komet users, the connection of FCS wholesalers to the K2K network will broaden the sales connections available on the K2K network, increasing sales opportunities", the team says.
Komet's K2K Network connects live vendor inventories with upstream seller platforms, allowing wholesalers to sell on-hand inventory as well as their suppliers' on-hand inventory with complete automation at each step in the chain. K2K increases product selection and availability across the floral industry while reducing inventory risk and enables sales personnel to focus on building stronger customer relationships instead of serving as order-takers.
Chris Beals, CEO of Komet, will continue to lead the combined entity. FCS's Founder and CEO, John Henderson, will continue to lead FCS and serve as an integral part of the development of Wholesaler 3.0, with the expected completion of the first version in the first half of 2024.
"This acquisition is a huge game changer for floral wholesalers," said Chris Beals. "By integrating FCS's wholesaler and production operations expertise with Komet's robust SaaS E-commerce and inventory platform, we'll be better positioned than ever to provide an unparalleled solution that addresses the challenges faced by flower wholesalers as well as delivering a significantly expanded sales channel to growers and importers on the K2K network. This is a win-win-win for floral growers, importers, and wholesalers, and in turn a boon for retail florists' procurement as well."
While SMARTSystem customers will continue to see exciting new features built, the development of Wholesaler 3.0 will be a future option for customers. Wholesaler 3.0, a cloud-based product developed from the shared vision of FCS and Komet, will combine the best aspects of both software platforms. Komet brings the K2K network and the scalability of cloud-based software, while FCS and its team of floral wholesaling experts bring new functionality tailored to the wholesale tier, notably bouquet management, and sales by the stem and bunch.
John Henderson stated, "I have been friends with Alejandro Pérez, [Komet's Founder], for over 20 years and have spoken about joining forces many times. Over the last year or so, we have been working on projects integrating K2K with SMARTSystem to improve workflows for wholesalers. Formalizing our relationship with this merger is the logical next step that only brings more benefits to our customers."
Chris Beals commented, "John and his team have built trusted relationships with their clients based on years of trusted service - we could not be more excited to welcome the FCS team into our growing Komet family."
For more information:
Komet Sales
www.kometsales.com