Are OG's to blame or is it customer apathy?

Status
Not open for further replies.
JCT

JCT

New Member
Feb 8, 2007
658
366
0
Scarborough
www.oakhillflorist.com
State / Prov
Maine
Received an FTD.com order today for $39.99 total. The order was from a large local retail chain. I get perplexed when local businesses order
on-line when they could call a local shop. So I called them. Located woman who placed the order, and asked her why she chose not to use a local shop (there are at least 20 who could have filled this order). She said it was easier doing it online, she felt local florists charge too much for delivery. Couldn't even get into the conversation of 'who do you think is going to fill this internet order for you'. Anyway...

I asked her what the total was that she paid for the order. $53! A whopping $13 service fee. I politely mentioned that had she ordered from us in the first place her employee would have received a much nicer order for her $53. She didn't really care. Asked her if she would call us next time she needed flowers delivered, she said she would. This call confirmed to me today the need to educate my customers on the benefits of using a local florist. I'm o.k if you don't buy from me, but buy it from someone that has a retail shop. Don't just throw $$ at someone sitting in a cubicle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
"When you come to a fork in the road - take it!"

Yogi Berra
 
Ah Jenny !! You got it, educate your customer even if they aren't "your customer first" !! That is how I caught Vancouver Flower Company skimming. (long story) BUT, you made that contact and helped them to realize what actually is happening. The question is did she actually realize what she did? Sometimes the "easy way out" is their first choice of excuses. Sounds like you tried to make her realize, maybe a followup with a business card etc would help her decisions if she needs flowers for another such occasion. If she is the person in charge of the "Cheer Club" for the company, even more reason to follow up. Good job! See you Tuesday
 
Mona, I think CONVENIENCE has a lot to do with it. Somehow you have to get them to know that your shop is CONVENIENT. This all comes down to getting our message out to people. Obviously, the OG she used got a message to her that they were convenient.

We have to get people talking about our shop by doing things that make people talk. Years ago I hired off duty policement to handle the parking at our open house. The talk around town was that Fairview was so busy they neede policemen to direct traffic.

I gave left over poinsettias to the Oaklawn Acedemy, a Catholic Boys School, last December 30th for their New Years Mass. Today we made 350 single carnation corsages for their senior graduation. I got it by asking for the order.

Yes, there is some consumer apathy, but that affects any business or service business.

Think TRAFFIC every hour of every day. TRAFFIC is what drives business.
 
Tom Carlson said:
Mona, I think CONVENIENCE has a lot to do with it. Somehow you have to get them to know that your shop is CONVENIENT.
Think TRAFFIC every hour of every day. TRAFFIC is what drives business.
Click to expand...

There's the crux - they got convenience down. If you don't answer your phones 24/7 and have an easy to use, compelling website you can't beat them.

That sender willingly paid extra for the convenience they offered. The only hope is to put yourself in that path with just as much convenience.

May I ask if you have 24/7 phone ordering and a website?

We have HP here in our town, an I know they order from 800Z all the time - corporate deals have been cut that I can't match - even tho we have 24/7 ordering and a fairly decent website. We get breadcrumbs from their floral and gift ordering - only from our faithful customers.
 
I would'nt call the average OG website compelling by any means. But yes, the convenience is what grabs people and the way the website is layed out with choices and prices for everything. I see alot of Independant non WS florist web sites that are really beautiful but very hard to shop, with no real prices etc. My next goal is to get a shopping cart up and figure that part out for maximum convenience. any suggestions? How hard or expensive is it to put a shopping cart, take cc etc..
 
It takes a significant amount of work to add a shopping cart. Expense is not hat great compared with rewards. If your site is at all atractive you should at the very least double what you are now getting. You can process cc's offline like you are now doing.

800Z's site is very compelling - generally known to be the categor leader.
 
mona said:
Received an FTD.com order today for $39.99 total. The order was from a large local retail chain. I get perplexed when local businesses order
on-line when they could call a local shop. So I called them. Located woman who placed the order, and asked her why she chose not to use a local shop (there are at least 20 who could have filled this order). She said it was easier doing it online, she felt local florists charge too much for delivery. Couldn't even get into the conversation of 'who do you think is going to fill this internet order for you'. Anyway...

I asked her what the total was that she paid for the order. $53! A whopping $13 service fee. I politely mentioned that had she ordered from us in the first place her employee would have received a much nicer order for her $53. She didn't really care. Asked her if she would call us next time she needed flowers delivered, she said she would. This call confirmed to me today the need to educate my customers on the benefits of using a local florist. I'm o.k if you don't buy from me, but buy it from someone that has a retail shop. Don't just throw $$ at someone sitting in a cubicle.
Click to expand...



Amazing how they are OK with a 13.00 service fee on top of our local delivery fee. It perplexes me as to why they are OK with a 13.00 service charge and not a 5-10 dollar delivery charge. Atleast there is a real cost involved a van, insurance, gas, very very interesting....
 
My guess is she got miles, points or automatic discounts from some affinity program.

I don't know about most markets, but some florists' delivery fees are rocketing skyward here.

A customer walked in last week asking how much our local delivery charge was. (Still $6.95 here.) She'd been at a well-known local franchise in an adjacent city and their delivery charge to our area was $12.95 with a minimum order of $40 - and they're only about 5 miles away.
 
CHR said:
My guess is she got miles, points or automatic discounts from some affinity program.

I don't know about most markets, but some florists' delivery fees are rocketing skyward here.

A customer walked in last week asking how much our local delivery charge was. (Still $6.95 here.) She'd been at a well-known local franchise in an adjacent city and their delivery charge to our area was $12.95 with a minimum order of $40 - and they're only about 5 miles away.
Click to expand...


How long in CA minutes does it take to go the 5 miles? Not sure as to where you are but I hear that with the traffic jams there, logistics are a nightmare. Costly both in time and gas sitting in traffic. Plus, don't you guys pay even more per gallon than most of the country?
 
Because I respect your logic

CHR said:
My guess is she got miles, points or automatic discounts from some affinity program.
QUOTE]

Which says, florists should have a rewards program. Some do and it would be a good subject for a separate thread/post. DO YOU HAVE REWARDS?


CHR said:
I don't know about most markets, but some florists' delivery fees are rocketing skyward here.
Click to expand...
Yes, I get a feeling that some shops have taken a page from the OGs on adding $ to the services they charge.
DO YOU THINK THE CONSUMER JUST ACCEPTS THESE FEES WITHOUT ANY QUESTION BECAUSE THEY GET HIGH FEES ELSEWHERE. COSTS $50 HERE TO JUST HAVE YOUR DISHWASHER ANALISED. MY COMPUTER "EXPERT" HAS A MINIMUM CHARGE OF $80, EVEN IF IT IS SOME SIMPLE SOLUTION.


CHR said:
A customer walked in last week asking how much our local delivery charge was. (Still $6.95 here.) She'd been at a well-known local franchise in an adjacent city and their delivery charge to our area was $12.95 with a minimum order of $40 - and they're only about 5 miles away.
Click to expand...
DO YOU THINK A FLORIST SHOULD MAKE MONEY ON DELIVERY SERVICE OR JUST BREAK EVEN? ARE YOU BREAKING EVEN OR BETTER AT $6.95?

I am the highest in town at $6.95 [small community compared to yours, Janesville is 65,000 and our county is at 150,000. We charge upwards to $15 for out ot town deliveries.

Looking forward to your thoughts/words of wisdom.
Click to expand...
 
Mona:
My husband for many years was involved in corporate purchasing, transportation management and the like. He developed, over the years, many many "deals" for office supplies, fleet cars, rental cars, hotel rooms, and any other service or good that, in their corporate environment, got used a lot! (ie big $$$$). The contracts were made, and the corporate people had to use what was offered, and only those vendors.

He also, only many occasions put all the corporate people on a MC/VISA or AMX program....it helped them to control cash flow better, and could more closely monitor spending of the elves in different dept. (you would be amazed at how many cases of white paper get purchased, 1 ream at a time....for instance). In many cases, they let the employees keep the miles or perks if offered by the card issuer. Sometimes, though, they did not, because they could negotiate a lower interest rate or some other rebate on a CORPORATE $$ BASIS for the total $$ spent.

So, sometimes it is not about convenience...sometimes it is about how much is being spend & where the contracts are. All of the companies he ever did deals with or for were always national chains (FTD/1-800- Ryder Trucks, Hertz, Avis, Marriott, Staples, etc.).

Regards,
Cheryl
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back