Random Thoughts
Sorry, I didn't mean to wander away. As I started this converstaion, think that it is time to bring it to a conculsion.
Here is just some random thoughts on the subject of co-branding.
When anyone starts a local business we all know that most cusotmers are going to be drawn to your business within a 5-7 mile radius around your business. It doesn't matter whether you open a dry cleaners, a nail shop, a small restuarant or a flowier shop, the vast majority of your customer base is going to come from the 5-7 mile circle around your business location.
Florist, however, had a very special situation. They have the ability to extend pass the "outer ring". It is accoumplished by the use of a wire servcice. It gives the florists the ability to deliver flowers well pass that outer ring without having to actually deliver the flowers themselves. It also brings in business from outside that ring from people that the florist did not even know existed.
It is now apparent to me that the greatest tool we had is rapidly becoming our greatest weakness. The ability to send and receive orders outside our customer base and the discounting program attached to it is now being used against us by the same people who helped create it. That goes not only for the WS, but also for some of the larger florists in this country. Co-branding is just another example of the progression as to how some can think up ways to use this special facet of our industry against us and then refer to it as a marketing tool.
What this special hybred version of co-branding brings to the table is that now anyone will be able to take advantage of the discounting between florists. If you have a grand opening for a gas station and you want to promote "fill up your tank", promote flowers. If your want to encourage people to use their credit card more often, promote flowers. If you want to promote a new salad, get them to buy the salad and offer a discount coupon to promote flowers. What's wrong with you ask? THEY ARE PROMOTING DISCOUNTED FLOWERS! And worse yet to your customers in the 5-7 mile ring.
It is rapidly getting to a point that the consumer isn't going to want to go to a flower shop to buy flowers, they are just going to look around for the best deal. They will look first at the internet and see who is giving the best discount. And don't even think they are going to try and find YOUR site because there are so many others to look at that are offering some price break. If you don't have time to look on the internet, sort through your coupons and see who has a flower special this month. In other words, YOUR flower business and creativity are only as good as the amount of the deal on the coupon. This is literally, discounting your whole business by people having nothing to lose by how they present the discount BECAUSE THAT DISCOUNT COMES OUT YOUR POCKET, NOT THEIRS. Even in the case of giving $10 off, florists know that it is coming from the sending fee, but don't expect the consumer to always figure this out. And you can't keep trying to educate the consumer because eventually you are going to have to "fess up" to that dirty little secret that the sender has been getting a discount and rebate all these years.
For some reason, most realize this is problem and yet we can't get over the hump. It really isn't that difficult to figure out. Yet we have some who refuse to change and have all sorts of reasons why they can't. This discounting is going to hurt their large shops just as much as it hurts the small shop, yet here we are still debating the subject.
