FTD.com Gift Cards

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BOSS

BOSS

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Oct 31, 2002
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Just saw these yesterday...hanging with the phone cards a the Rite-Aid Pharmacy across the street... FTD.com Gift Card, for one dozen roses "delivered by a local florist" for $49.99... All the regular disclaimers, regarding direct ship etc....scratch off pin number...800 number...etc... Just duckey!
 
BOSS said:
Just saw these yesterday...hanging with the phone cards a the Rite-Aid Pharmacy across the street... FTD.com Gift Card, for one dozen roses "delivered by a local florist" for $49.99... All the regular disclaimers, regarding direct ship etc....scratch off pin number...800 number...etc... Just duckey!
Click to expand...

It's not a bad idea ... how many florists are partnering with local companies to widen exposure to their product? How many co-brand with packages or holiday specials? These big firms benefit not just from spending the millions on advertising; part of the millions goes towards developing methods and new marketing strategies. We may not have the budget, but we are more flexible and adaptable. We need to learn what works and do it faster and better.

Ryan
 
Good idea for FTD, bad idea for florists.

Let's walk through this and see if you agree.

FTD prints a gift card for a value of $49.99 and the local drug stores or anyone else that wants to sell them and they buy these cards at a discounted rate. Let's just say the drug store bought this card for a discounted rate of $45. That means the drug store makes $4.99 on each card sold.

The consumer paid the face value of the card and know wants to send flowers to his girl. Does he take the gift card to the local flower shop? NO! Can he mail the card to girl friend and have her redeem it from her local flower shop? NO!

So what does the consumer do? He goes directly to FTD.com to see what flowers he can purchase with his new gift card. Now the consumer could pick one of the large arrangements shown with same day delivery included. Ah, but wait. Here we go. He can send the Luara Ashley MIXED dozen roses to his girl and it's same day delivery also for $49.99 plus sending fee. Ah, but wait, here's another option. The FTD Medium stem red roses for $29.99 marked down to $19.99 and that too is marked for same day delivery. Boy, this is really a great deal! The customer now decides to send TWO dozen of the medium stem roses and even with the sending fee, the total comes to just alittle over the gift card value. And the consumer is thinking - "boy, I can't get a deal like that from my local flower shop."

Great partnership isn't it? The florists send in their money every month toward national advertising and the WS uses part of the money to print gift cards used to divert the consumer.
 
Re: Who BEE using WHO?

NPFloral said:
And florists STILL use FTD.... amazing... :hammer:
Tim -- the Original North Port Floral
Click to expand...

Well put Tim, but I think of that statement as Juxtaposed and in contrast to WHO BEE USING WHO! :tread:

As they CONTINUE to LOWER DA BAR fore DA FLORISTS and in their effort TO COMPETE against all DA SKIMMERS and DIRECTS, their FREE LABOR and DELIVERY FORCE is getting their profitability SQUEEZED from them and at every angle.

Only a question of when it all implodes around them as their very own PASSIVE REVENUE STREAMS dry up and die.
 
atleast they are trying new ideas to get to THE CUSTOMER...
an idea that no one else has thought of
cutting edge.
if your cutting edge, yes you will make some mistakes
but atleast they are trying to build sales
with an idea like this do you think most florist would want to redeem the gift card. not!
i would accept the card if a customer brought it to my store, because they could be a new customer that i have to pay little to gain
and that is the whole point of the game
( i bet ftd would reimburse us if you ask, may not 100% but atleast something)
this is similar the ftd placing an add in the Entertainment book for a $10.00 off coupon. it doesn't cost me to run the ad and they reimburse me for the coupon.
sounds to me like thinking out of the box!
 
dave said:
i would accept the card if a customer brought it to my store, because they could be a new customer that i have to pay little to gain
and that is the whole point of the game
( i bet ftd would reimburse us if you ask, may not 100% but atleast something)
Click to expand...

NO WAY!

Think about it... they already paid for the card, thus you are paying the cost of your product and delivery just to get the customer data...while this **may** be cheap, IMHO not worth it...

And I doubt very highly that FTD.com would reimburse you. You got between them and the consumer, and you got the customer data and not them.
 
Boss,

Didn't you once say that you accept all competitors' coupons? The whole sale cost of 1 doz roses is less the averag cost / new customer through the internet.

Ryan
 
Re: You're not serious, ARE YOU?

dave said:
at least they are trying new ideas to get to THE CUSTOMER... an idea that no one else has thought of cutting edge. if your cutting edge, yes you will make some mistakes but at least they are trying to build sales with an idea like this do you think most florist would want to redeem the gift card. not! i would accept the card if a customer brought it to my store, because they could be a new customer that i have to pay little to gain and that is the whole point of the game (i bet ftd would reimburse us if you ask, may not 100% but atleast something) this is similar the ftd placing an add in the Entertainment book for a $10.00 off coupon. it doesn't cost me to run the ad and they reimburse me for the coupon.sounds to me like thinking out of the box!
Click to expand...

They haven't had a cutting edge idea since we sold it back in 1993.

Facts are that, Dick Boyce (the first ceo for 6 months) didn't have the time to figure out, just what it was Perry bought.

Then, Meg Whitman couldn't figure it out either. Although, she seemed to do very well with Ebay, ey?

Then, small bob came along, fed all of us a line of dribble and simply bought more time to enable them to raise all of their dues and fees while continuing to EXCLUDE their members from where the BIG PROFITS were, in those DROP SHIP GIFTS.

Gift Cards are NOT CUTTING EDGE! They are OLD NEWS!

And, if I want to give ANYONE a 30% DISCOUNT on our PREMIUM ROSES, it would be to MY OWN CUSTOMERS when I run a sale at my own shop and FORE CASH!

Just another MIDDLEMAN PLOY to enable them to GET IN BETWEEN a REAL FLORIST and THE CONSUMER while allowing them to earn their 30% commission while getting a florist to SELL THROUGH THEM at a net of $35.00 versus $49.99.

Worse case scenario is if, that offer winds up to be a DIRECT DROP SHIP direct to the recipient which then means, YOU'VE BEEN EXLUDED AGAIN!

However, they still need YOUR PASSIVE REVENUE FLOW, so just keep sending in your monthly dues and fees.
 
Infinite said:
Boss,

Didn't you once say that you accept all competitors' coupons? The whole sale cost of 1 doz roses is less the averag cost / new customer through the internet.

Ryan
Click to expand...

Yes, but in this case it a "matter of principle" thing...

And what the heck you doing posting ?? Aren't you still at the lake??

Call me if ya have a second...:)
 
I think you-all are missing the whole purpose to this, and I think it's a good move.
With this card, they are enablling the customer who:
a doesn't have a credit card
or
b doesn't want to use a credit card on the phone or on the web

to buy their products that are advertised on the web.
By hooking up with chains who have no other interest in flowers, they have wide distribution and their only costs are the store commission and the printing.

There have to be millions of people out there who are goosey about this Id theft thing and just won't give their cc no. out.
 
Right on the money, Pete.

That is why I said, these cards are not redeemable at you local florist. They will only be used in internet buying and only at ONE site - FTD.com.

And for anyone that is thinking about accepting these cards like competitors coupons. you might want to think again. The customer paid full value for the $49.99 card and FTD has already been paid $45 <for example> for it. The customer is not looking for a discount on the product as would be the case in dsicount coupons. The consumer is now looking for the best value for his or her investment. Even if you were willing to accept the card at face value and do an arrangement and delivery for FREE thinking that you might have a future customer, the customer may also find they can get a better value next time on the internet and you lose again - first time was free flowers and delivery and second loss is customer doesn't return.

Pete is right on the money. The only place that gift card can be used is on the internet and only on one website - FTD.com. This is for the consumer who doesn't like giving out their CC number to people or websites they don't know.

Yes, they are on the cutting edge alright and it looks like many florist's heads are on the cutting block!
 
I agree that many of the things FTD has come up with stink from our perspective but I ask this in all honesty,.What ideas would you do if you were in their shoes....PF has taken over more than 25 % of the market.Would you just sit back and not compete with them when obviously they are continuing to grow.And yes, I realize that they are company that has their own interests in mind, but with all the talking we do, I do not see any solutions that have been brought forward that are realistic. For our company, dropping them at this point is not an option, and I do use them for what I need as a vendor. For me, some of the costs are just part of the cost of doing business. Being wire free is not an option as sending is an issue with us. Also having the back up of resolving problems is an added feature. There are other features that fit our business plan and there are some that I won't touch with a ten foot pole.
So what realistic ideas can we do as a united group besides complaining and revisiting what FTD use to be.....they have changed and so have most of us in how we do business...
 
Update

These cards have been discontinued by FTD for various reasons.

And, yes, if a florist presents an **Activated** card they would be reimbursed.

Just $0.02 more of my sense :)
 
TOTO said:


They haven't had a cutting edge idea since we sold it back in 1993.

Facts are that, Dick Boyce (the first ceo for 6 months) didn't have the time to figure out, just what it was Perry bought.

Then, Meg Whitman couldn't figure it out either. Although, she seemed to do very well with Ebay, ey?

Then, small bob came along, fed all of us a line of dribble and simply bought more time to enable them to raise all of their dues and fees while continuing to EXCLUDE their members from where the BIG PROFITS were, in those DROP SHIP GIFTS.

Gift Cards are NOT CUTTING EDGE! They are OLD NEWS!

And, if I want to give ANYONE a 30% DISCOUNT on our PREMIUM ROSES, it would be to MY OWN CUSTOMERS when I run a sale at my own shop and FORE CASH!

Just another MIDDLEMAN PLOY to enable them to GET IN BETWEEN a REAL FLORIST and THE CONSUMER while allowing them to earn their 30% commission while getting a florist to SELL THROUGH THEM at a net of $35.00 versus $49.99.

Worse case scenario is if, that offer winds up to be a DIRECT DROP SHIP direct to the recipient which then means, YOU'VE BEEN EXLUDED AGAIN!

However, they still need YOUR PASSIVE REVENUE FLOW, so just keep sending in your monthly dues and fees.
Click to expand...


Why did you sell it in 1993, if you don't mind me asking?
 
So, help me to understand, BOSS

You saw these cards offered for sale just the other day at your local drug store and now FTD says they are no longer offering them. I wonder if anyone told the drug store they are no longer offering them. Maybe the drug store should start discounting them so they can get some of their money back or better yet, return them for full refund. Afterall, isn't that what the consumer can do if they don't like the arrangement?

BOSS, don't you find this a little bazaar? You see a FTD gift card for the first time and within a matter of days, FTD says the program didn't work and the cards are no longer available. No one who posted on this board, other than yourself, knew anything about these cards and no FTD member got any notification that these cards were in circulation and yet FTD says that they were redeemable at the local florist. How would a local florist even know that? And yet no one raises any questions. I guess if someone just tells you that it didn't happen - it didn't happen!
 
Griff said:
You saw these cards offered for sale just the other day at your local drug store ...............................................I guess if someone just tells you that it didn't happen - it didn't happen!
Click to expand...

I posted the original message the day I saw them. A day or two later I recieved a phone call from another florist....explaining that FTD discontinued the program because too many of the cards got lifted (read-stolen)...

Said florist also said that FTD would reimburse florists for any cards they redeem...go figure, seems all you have to do is ask...

thats all I know on this one...
 
My guess is that the Rite-Aid was not paying for the cards ... just for the cards that left the premesis.

Ryan
 
Re: Why did wee sell it fore WBN

Facts were and at that time, DA BOARD had so much INFIGHTING (they called it politics) that, they were no longer effective in leading us in the consumer marketplace.

We had two factions back then. One side was called THE WHITE HATS while the other side was called THE BLACK HATS.

The WHITE HATS continued to try and implement strategies which would DRIVE THE CONSUMERS to the local members.

The BLACK HATS, many of whom were SLEEPING WITH OUR ENEMY, continued to STIFLE growth projects which would ENABLE THE MEMBERS, but COMPETE with THEIR GOD.

When I asked one board member, (then the treasurer); "How can you purport to represent OUR INTERESTS while serving on this board when YOU RECEIVE $250K per year in INCOMING ORDERS from our biggest competitor?"

His answer was that, HE COULD! (not!)

Even at the eleventh hour, the WHITE HATS and Cathy Hickman tried to get the BLACK HATS to agree to CHANGE THE GOVERNANCE as to how our CO OP should be run.

Gone were the days that the CO OP could be operated FULL TIME by a PART TIME BOARD.

We wanted a FULL TIME CEO to operate OUR CO OP just like every other FORE PROFIT COMPANY out here since, in today's world, you need to TURN ON A DIME and be PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE to the changing market conditions.

With the UNSOLICITED OFFERS, the board was mandated by the laws of Michigan and had a fiduciary responsibility to bring that offer directly to the MEMBERS for their vote.

While WEE DIDN'T WANT TO SELL IT and since the BLACK HATS would not agree to a FULL TIME CEO and knowing that, their intent was to DRIVE IT TO THE BRINK OF BANKRUPTCY so that, their GOD could come in at the eleventh hour and BUY IT UP at ten cents on our dollar, WEE TOOK THE MONEY!

Sadly, and despite the many false promises made by the buyer, it turned out to be EXACTLY what the VOTE NO group had described it would be. A wall street banker buying it up to CHOP IT UP, sell off what he could, and then, squeeze the profits from every area of the company, he possibly could.

After which, he sold it off after nine years and walked away with a $410 million dollar plus profit.

Would I doo it again? NO! And only because, even the old BLACK HATS could never dream of THIS LEVEL OF GREED!

The best that they could ever do was to enjoy their PIRCs on an annual basis which might've totaled under one million.

This is the short version and I didn't even touch upon HOW THEY WERE ABLE TO KILL OUR ASSOCIATION and got out from under our 99 year mutual support agreement!
 
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