I'm coming into this discussion very late as I have not had a chance to log into FC for the past few weeks. I agree that the present WS business model is fundamentally flawed because it is weighted overwhelmingly in favour of senders and leaves virtually nothing by way of profit for the filling florists who have to bear all of the cost of goods, labour and physical overhead expenses to get the flowers to the recipient. But Duane MeLennan is making a very important point that people seem to be overlooking in their moral outrage about wire services.
Let's take a long-term view of this and face up to the very real possibility that the wire services may eventually concentrate all of their filling business, at least in regions with a sufficiently concentrated population base, with a small number of very efficient order fillers. With the combined might of the wire services marketing budgets and economies of scale that such a model offers, the surviving independent florists may find we are losing even more market share than we've lost to the supermarkets and box stores. We need to face up to this possibility and develop business strategies that allow independents to compete effectively. Railing about the damage being done by misleading business practices of dOGs is fine as long as we get beyond the whining and take effective action to deal with present challenges. Dropping WS membership may be part of the solution, but it may also accelerate an onslaught of new challenges. Duane is right to keep his options open. As many others in this thread have pointed out, one of the most important things we can do as independents is to strengthen our own online marketing by building effective websites and supporting each other through direct referrals.
John Frecker
Holland Nurseries
401 Torbay Road
St. John's Newfoundland, Canada
The WS model may change as you mentioned. I'm sure it will have to change, because local B & M fill shops just aren't making any money from WS orders. The OG and WS are literally taking all the profits.
Yes, the WS will probably have to change their operations as local shops are wising up. I suspect their business arrangements will be directed more towards wholesalers filling their orders, just as there are now certain wholesalers that actually do put up arrangements for grocers. If the industry progresses in this direction we'll deal with it. One thing that will definitely strengthen B & M shops is to get involved with Google, Bing and the search engines by posting on their forums, etc. We need to push for better local representation of our businesses, especially with Google.
IMO, WS are antiquated since we have a very competent internet. I doubt there is a person on this forums that doesn't know how easy they can create and do business over the internet.
Anyone search Google and find a local florist to send orders for filling, the payment process is easy.. you pay with a credit card. MC & Visa are accepted worldwide, and the exchange rates are all done by the CC company. Ask for a 20% discount and no fill florist will turn you down. It's good for business.
I don't really understand what keeping your options open means. Does that mean to continue to pay the WS, minimize WS? If that means keeping your mouth shut and keep it low, what difference could it possibly make? I think the rants and complaints are good because they cause others that read the postings to think about their WS costs vs profits.
The little spreadsheet in my sig at the bottom is an evaluation of WS statements. It is not for or against WS, it just helps people to better understand the overly complex WS statements that tend to obscure thing for people, i.e., like the telephone bill.
As many others in this thread have pointed out, one of the most important things we can do as independents is to strengthen our own online marketing by building effective websites and supporting each other through direct referrals.
Individual survival is best accomplished by doing what is the very best for your business. I would further say do what is best for your business NOW. This economy isn't being fixed I'm very concerned this administration is taking us to European style economics. That means higher unemployment and more people on subsidies and entitlements, which mean people won't have much disposable income for purchasing flowers.
