At 1-800-Flowers.com, every bouquet, gift basket or sweet treat is delivered with a smile. For decades, the company has helped people express “I love you,” “Congratulations,” or “Just because,” through its thoughtful gifts and beautiful blooms.

The company has long been a leader in the floral and gifting industry, offering a broad range of products, from flowers and gift baskets to gourmet foods and plants. It’s known for helping people share these emotions, and its reputation is based on building relationships and delivering a high level of customer service. And behind the scenes of this customer service are representatives who ensure every heartfelt moment is delivered just right. But as customer expectations evolve in a digital-first world, 1-800-Flowers needed to be able to offer consistent customer service across all channels. With multiple brands in its portfolio, the team sought to keep things personal while moving at the speed of now: How could they continue to scale while maintaining the human touch that makes the company special?

Leaders looked for a way to access a comprehensive and real-time view of each customer’s information by empowering representatives with the tools they need to offer faster and smarter service — and make every customer feel seen, heard and appreciated. To address this, 1-800-Flowers partnered with Avanade and Microsoft to streamline operations, integrate its data and harness the power of AI and automation — designed to better support its customer service representatives.

“Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and we deliver smiles, not just gifts,” says Bill Ingram, vice president IT at 1-800-Flowers. “How do you satisfy a customer? Make that time when they're calling in for information as efficient as possible.”

For that customer-centric approach, the three teams collaborated to design and implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact centre, an AI-first, cloud-native platform that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft’s broader ecosystem.

One of the first steps in addressing the challenge was centralising customer data that was displayed in disparate systems across the organisation. Customer service representatives often had to navigate to multiple places to find the information they needed, making it difficult to offer personalised responses quickly. With Dynamics 365 Contact centre, there is a 360-degree view of the customer, giving service reps instant access to all the information they need exactly when they need it.

Easily enabling AI capabilities was next: “Because Microsoft Dynamics is cloud-native, it's able to tap into the broader Microsoft ecosystem and take advantage of the AI capability,” says Diane Alsing, exec and practice lead, ERP at Avanade.

Supporting representatives with AI-driven tools like sentiment analysis, as well as intelligent and unified routing, helps assess the emotional tone of customer interactions — ensuring urgent or sensitive requests are sent to the most qualified representatives. “Dynamics 365 Contact centre is all on a single platform, so that means it's a single pane of glass for the customer service representatives,” says Jessica Shaw, senior business applications specialist at Microsoft.

Another unique aspect of the solution was enabling proactive customer engagement. With the integration of AI-powered analytics, 1-800-Flowers can now anticipate customer needs and reach out before the customer asks. Whether it’s providing order updates, sending birthday reminders or offering exclusive promotions, this approach helps build brand loyalty by making customers feel more valued with timely, personalised engagement. It also allows representatives to spend less time reacting to inbound requests and more time building meaningful relationships with customers.

Scalability was another important consideration as 1-800-Flowers continues to grow. By leveraging Microsoft’s cloud platform, including Azure and Microsoft 365, the 1-800-Flowers team will be able to keep the solution growing with the business. Integration with the broader Microsoft ecosystem means the company can use the latest AI tools to continuously improve its customer service operations.

The transformation quickly showed business value in a few key areas: First, customer service representatives are now equipped with tools to offer more tailored service. With access to all relevant customer data in one place, they can engage with customers with more context. And, they feel more confident in their ability to resolve inquiries successfully — supporting employee morale and productivity.

Self-service options also allow customers to resolve simpler issues on their own, freeing up representatives to focus on higher-value tasks. This combination of efficiency and personalisation results in a more connected experience for both customers and employees.

“What matters most to us is our customers, and our relationships with our customers,” says Arnie Leap, CIO at 1-800-Flowers. “It is so very important that we help them express themselves, celebrate their life events and [for them] to be able to rely on us — and depend on us — to be a part of that process.”

The collaboration between 1-800-Flowers, Avanade and Microsoft showcases a customer service solution by focusing on the people who drive the business: representatives and customers. Even in an age of automation and AI, the heart of 1-800-Flowers remains unchanged: real people helping other people celebrate, comfort and connect. Representatives aren’t just resolving tickets — they’re part of precious moments. And whether it’s for a birthday surprise, a message of sympathy or simply a “thinking of you,” the team now has the resources to deliver every sentiment with warmth and care.

At 1-800-Flowers, it’s never just about flowers or gifts — it’s about making someone’s day a bit brighter. And now, empowered by technology and backed by strategy, the company can keep doing what it does best: delivering smiles, one conversation at a time.

Visit this link to unlock growth with exceptional service experiences that drive customer loyalty and advocacy. For our contact centre modernisation guide, click here.