Who is Jesse?

Meet Jesse Hiss, Co-Founder of Fresh Sends!

About Fresh Sends

Fresh Sends was founded in 2019 with the hope of reclaiming authentic connection through gifts. Setting out to freshen-up the cookie cutter gifting industry, Fresh Sends has designed a gifting experience not only to deliver exceptional and straightforward products but to also have a core focus on the sentiment behind the gesture.

Jesse’s Journey

Fresh Sends began with the idea of simplifying flower delivery while offering unique gift options that appealed to a younger generation. “My wife, Ty, was working as a wedding florist at the time and was often asked if she did deliveries,” Jesse remembers. Not particularly happy with her schedule or difficult clients, Ty branched out only to learn that hand delivering orders wasn’t economically viable. Not ready to give up, Jesse and Ty started looking into more effective ways to ship flowers.

Founding the Company

After deciding to turn their home in Denver, Co into a headquarters and going to live in Ty’s sister’s basement, the couple launched Fresh Sends in 2019. “We’ve taken on a little bit of seed money from angel investors but have mostly bootstrapped the business up until this point,” Jesse says. They have since grown their 2-person team to include 35 members. In addition to streamlined delivery, Jesse credits making the customer experience “awesome and lovely from top to bottom” and attention to detail to Fresh Sends’ early success.

The expenses and logistics for shipping flowers are extensive. “My wife and I always joke that we picked the hardest of hard things to ship,” Jesse admits. While perishable goods such as food can be packed in dry ice, flowers cannot - once sent out, they have a 24-to-48-hour delivery window before starting to wilt. Speed and efficiency are critical. “After receiving an order, we design, build packaging, and ship the day before it’s supposed to arrive,” Jesse reveals. “We use UPS and FedEx among other carriers to overnight orders, and utilize fast last-mile delivery services.”

The Team at Fresh Sends

While Fresh Sends’ Team is hybrid, its core 35 members work onsite. “The predominant operation is light manufacturing, so we need people here fulfilling orders to make this engine run,” Jesse says. They are supported by a corporate staff that works remotely throughout the US and relationships with buyers in South America (all Fresh Sends’ product comes from Columbia and Ecuador).

Fresh Sends’ CX Philosophy

“Customer experience has been at the forefront from the very beginning,” Jesse states. Shipping flowers comes with many high-stakes, uncontrollable variables. Regardless of how accurate planning and preparation are, relying on third-party shippers to handle a perishable product presents challenges. “Whether it’s refunding or reshipping, we end up eating a lot of the costs,” Jesse reveals. “In these cases, our CX philosophy is always ‘what can we do to make this right? How can we go above and beyond for this customer and win them back?’”

While many E-Commerce companies are outsourcing customer service, Fresh Sends has chosen to keep their team in-house. It’s paid off Jesse says, adding “We get a lot of great feedback – people love and appreciate what we are doing.”

Evolution of Customer Service

“DMs come in on TikTok or Instagram and that person expects a reply immediately,” Jess says. Because Fresh Sends’ target audience, Gen Z and millennials, are so tech savvy, the company has built out systems, utilizing software and tools to make sure the customer service team has the resources they need. They aim for a response time of 4 hours and supplement support with AI and auto-response for repeated and simple questions.

Innovation and Adaptability

While the landscape of E-Commerce flower delivery has undergone a facelift recently, Jesse points out that many of Fresh Sends’ competitors are still following the cookie-cutter model. To stand out, the company has focused on the ‘gifting experience.’ Jesse explains, “We’ve personalized and made the cards more fun. You can record a message with a selfie video, and we’ll print a QR code on the card for the recipient to scan and watch.” Innovative package design makes ‘unboxing’ a Fresh Sends’ order feel grand, exciting, and memorable. “We want Gen Z and millennials to come to us and feel like they are doing business with a company that is on their same level personality wise,” Jesse finishes.

Business Growth and Revenue Strategies

Revenue Growth Journey

During the first two years, Fresh Sends experienced a revenue growth of 300-400% - astonishing numbers considering the company was still working out the kinks of shipping flowers. “Because we were hand manufacturing everything ourselves, operationally, we couldn’t keep up with demand,” Jesse notes. Since then, they have steadied at 100% nearly doubling revenue every year.

Fresh Sends’ Growth Strategies

Self-proclaimed ‘brand snobs’, Jesse and his wife meticulously focused on detail to create their company’s identity. Their intention was always to create a brand that connects with young people. “We labor over copy, voice, presentation, everything. And I think we just really have a great product. Rarely are you buying flowers for yourself, so every order can be considered as a wave of marketing.” He credits their amazing design and operations teams for helping to make Fresh Sends a brand that resonates.

Prioritizing Customer Retention

Daily, 40 to 45% of Fresh Sends’ orders are repeat customers. Customer retention strategies include reward programs and sending personalized gifts to their highest buyers. Understanding and listening to customers is invaluable for insight. “My wife will get on the phone and set up meetings to ask people what they like and don’t like,” Jesse reveals.

Peak Season Strategies

Fresh Sends’ peak seasons are Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Jesse says, “The biggest challenge we face is how do you grow your business 10 to 20X for a week or two?” After hiring insta-workers to help fulfill orders, Jesse went back to relying on his in-house team. “When people come in for such a short period, the level of quality and care just are not there. Now, we utilize our current staff and friends and family, creating a pool of people who love to come in and work with flowers.”

Goals and Priorities

Looking forward, Jesse hopes to expand operations and make shipping more efficient (from Denver, they are currently working with shipping centers in New York and Los Angeles). He also has sights set on product expansion and elaborates, “We call ourselves a gifting brand, so introducing other items such as food and candles – giftable items that are easy but come off as really thoughtful.”

Advice for Entrepreneurs

With all the resources at our fingertips, Jesse urges budding E-Commerce entrepreneurs to “just go for it.” He goes on to say that “a bold, persistent attitude is needed because at every turn in your journey, there’s going to be something there to tear you down.” It’s important to lean into that entrepreneurial mindset and remind yourself that you can figure this out.

Tech Stack

Gorgias “We use Gorgias helpdesk to stay organized and not let things slip through the cracks.”

Shopify

Finaloop “It gives you a financial snapshot of where you are at and does a great job plugging into Shopify.”