A Talk with Tahira Begic of Baisch & Skinner

What is the mission and impact of Baisch & Skinner? 

Baisch & Skinner is a family-owned floral wholesaler located on the historic Floral Row in St. Louis, with a legacy dating back to 1952. Our mission is to provide florists and floral designers with the highest quality floral supplies and flowers available, sourced from literally all over the world. 

We are proud to offer outstanding customer service and strive to foster strong relationships with our customers and within the floral industry. Our impact is reflected in the long-term success of our customers. In a real way, as wholesale distributors, we help them keep the promises they make.

Baisch & Skinner was born in 1952 — how has your organization evolved over the decades? 

Art Baisch established Baisch & Skinner a few years after serving his country as a Marine in WWII. From those humble beginnings, we have evolved from a small, family-run wholesale operation in St. Louis to one of the largest and most respected floral wholesalers in the Midwest, serving our customers from several locations. 

We’ve expanded our product offerings, broadened our customer base, consistently provided educational and instructional offerings and actively served in many floral industry organizations. We’ve also developed extensive logistic lanes and delivery options to better serve our customers and embraced digital tools, including e-commerce, to make it easier for customers to access our products and stay competitive in an evolving market.

Before working with Paradigm, what were some of the challenges your organization faced?

Before partnering with Paradigm, one of our biggest struggles was keeping pace with the growing demand for an inviting online experience. It was a challenge for Baisch & Skinner to transition from an analog to a digital world in terms of marketing and product promotion. Our customers were increasingly expecting the ability to browse and order products online, but that was new to us. We needed someone who could help us brave the new world of e-commerce.

Why did you choose to partner with Paradigm?

It was a matter of coincidence and faith. Our office manager knew of a young gentleman at our bank looking to start or expand an e-commerce company. I am quite sure we were one of his first customers. That was the coincidence part. The faith part was easy too. We met John and had faith in him. 

In the beginning, we were both learning as we went along, but that was okay: We knew we were in good hands. Paradigm’s understanding of both the technology landscape and the unique demands of the floral industry made them the ideal partner to help  Baisch & Skinner modernize operations and improve customer experiences.

How would you characterize your ongoing partnership with us?

Our partnership with Paradigm has been a work in progress in a wonderful way. It’s fair to say that nothing moves and changes as fast as the e-commerce universe. We’d be lost without them. They keep track of the newest bells and whistles and let us know when they spot something they think will work for us. 

It’s a relationship that started on faith and has been built on trust and shared goals.

How have we helped you address challenges through technology? 

Paradigm helped us bridge our e-commerce platform with our ERP, NetSuite. This allowed  Baisch & Skinner to offer a smoother customer experience, faster order fulfillment and better inventory management. Their technology solutions have not only improved our operational efficiency but also empowered us to grow by reaching new customers.

We developed a new Shopify store for you — how has it transformed internal and external brand experiences?

The Shopify store has been a game-changer for both our customers and our internal team. Externally, it’s provided a modern, user-friendly platform that allows customers to easily browse products, place orders and manage accounts. Frankly, it makes us look good, which is always good for the brand.

Internally, it gives us something to be proud of — that’s good for Baisch & Skinner too. The system has streamlined our order processing, reduced manual workloads and improved inventory tracking, allowing our staff to focus on serving our customers more effectively.

How do you envision your marketing & technology strategy evolving in the future?

We see technology continuing to play a key role in our strategy. We plan to leverage data analytics to better understand customer preferences. Additionally, we are exploring ways to further integrate our systems with those of our vendor partners to streamline the buying process. 

As wholesale distributors, we see ourselves as ambassadors for our vendors and growers, promoting their products in our market. At Baisch & Skinner, we believe we can improve customer engagement through digital channels by coordinating and timing our marketing efforts to complement that of our vendor partners.

What’s one piece of wisdom gained from our partnership that you would share with others?

Like any relationship, success is built on trust and respect.

A good partnership also includes continuous improvement and keeping pace with both market trends and customer expectations. Of that, they have no equal. 

Anything else you’d like to add?

It’s been a good ride. Your expertise in digital transformation has empowered Baisch & Skinner to grow and evolve in ways we hadn’t thought possible. For that, we are grateful. 

Partner with Paradigm 

At Paradigm, long-lasting partnerships have become the cornerstone of our business model. We’re incredibly grateful for the trust ambitious organizations like Baisch have given us over the years — it’s truly an honor to grow diverse brands and witness their success firsthand. 

We believe innovation starts with a partnership, whether that be for websites, analytics or content creation. Contact our team to uncover actionable insights for your organization.