FTD Paid Placement Auction - What's next????????????

[BBJ (Big Bad John)]

A bidding war is about to begin............for discounted orders!!!!:hammer:

Got to love the wire services for continually comming up with new ways to line their pockets.

 

[lori042499]

It'll be interesting to see who "wins" the auction on ads and how much they "win" them for.

 

[CHR]

BBJ, FTD wouldn't offer it if they didn't think florists would pay even more to buy orders than they do now.

If those same shops would take the ASB-Toll Free-Enhanced listings dollars and use them to market to local customers.... :hammer:

My crystal ball says... the top senders will proably get top placement if they want to go after incomings.

Will florists be able to see eachother's bids? Can someone monitor the auction for major cities - New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas & Toronto and keep us updated?

Wonder how many florists that count on rotating to the top will get PO'd and call this the last FTD straw?

 

[prestonway]

Wonder how many florists that count on rotating to the top will get PO'd and call this the last FTD straw?

I don't see this as simply a money grab, but rather accelerating the further consolidation of the industry.

There will be some gain to FTD on the auction bids, some loss as members leave, but the end result is that...

Youse either a big sender, big filler...or a drain on FTD's resources & they await your termination.

And as my friend Bloomz would say...& the problem is?

 

[BOSS]

I guess I see this a little differently.

If, in a city like mine with 2 members, if one were to go after it they could get it for $50.00 giving FTD more funding. If we went into a bidding battle, the shop with the biggest bank account would prevail.

In a city with 25 or more members, the bidding could get ugly, with the winner paying $3-4-500.00 or more to get more discounted orders.

Neither scenario is a money maker for anyone but FTD. It's not like your bidding for 100% sales here...

As I have said before...RUN....RUN far and fast!

 

[12BucksFor2Dozon]

...
Wonder how many florists that count on rotating to the top will get PO'd and call this the last FTD straw?

My crystal ball says....0.2%. FTD florist have shown and incredible resiliency to mistreatment in the past. Kinda like battered-wife syndrome.

I like this quote from Wiki...

Often sufferers will even seek out their very abuser for comfort shortly after an incident of abuse.

hmmmm...ok.

 

[Pandalou]

FTD bidding

I couldn't believe this when I got the email. I never just go with the top person when I am searching on an outgoing order. I don't think Florists will necessarily get more orders unless they are in large cities where there are many Florists to choose from. I think this really hurts the small florist:hammer:
Sharon

 

[Bigted]

I'm afraid we will have to decline to participate. We will rely on our reputation and service to carry us through. If that's not enough--oh well.

 

[BOSS]

I never just go with the top person when I am searching on an outgoing order. I don't think Florists will necessarily get more orders unless they are in large cities where there are many Florists to choose from. I think this really hurts the small florist:hammer:
Sharon

Remember this is about advertising to FLORISTS and NOT consumers...

 

[RWK]

I'm not sure what steps if any my new employer will take concerning this, but one thing remains clear.....and I apologize in advance if I step on anyones toes with this.....but when it comes to my wire out orders for my customer clients.....If there is an AIFD member in that town, then that's who I'll call first. Secondly, I get the directory and I read the listing and decide from there......and ALWAYS, I'll call the intended filling florist rather than sending over the Mercury. ( we do not have the Dove system ).

I feel like I can best convey my customer clients wishes if I am speaking with the person at the other end.

[EDIT: If there is no AIFD member in the town, but there is a florist that I personally know.....or know them by reputation within the industry.....then I'll call them as well. ]

 

[Pandalou]

bids

I just sent FTD an email and told them I thought that was the worst idea ever.
My email will probably get deleted but I figured they needed to know that we are not in favor of their bidding war.:soapbox:
Sharon

 

[sfox]

Actually

Actually, this could trun out to be a big help to florists. Think about it. The guy who wins the bid, gets the top position, buys a banner ad, who is he or she, "a florist without a clue." Is this somone you want your orders to be filled by?

 

[Eric S]

So you pay to be placed in the cities that you serve.
Then you have to bid on the top spots.

I don't see this as simply a money grab, but rather accelerating the further consolidation of the industry

Yep that is exactly the plan. The little florist will not just go away unless the orders disapear. What a great way to decide who is going to be FTD's puppet at the end.

 

[David]

I'm afraid we will have to decline to participate.

Same here. Wish all florist would take the money and spend it on getting the consumer. Why chase a declining segment of our industry.

 

[Bigted]

I just sent FTD an email and told them I thought that was the worst idea ever.
My email will probably get deleted but I figured they needed to know that we are not in favor of their bidding war.:soapbox:
Sharon

Sorry, this is not even close to FTD's worst idea ever. And frankly, I can't imagine that a bidding war would happen anywhere. Like most shops, we already have florists that we trust in every major market. I would be amazed to see any of them bidding for the big spot.

In this case, size doesn't matter.

 

[CHR]

Ted - you are absolutely right. Most stores - especially big senders - already have their preferred florists bookmarked so the ads will have little effect.

What they will do is sell hope to the florists who don't know better. They'll have a three month commitment but will need to re-bid at the end of Nov. (before the ad proves itself) in order to preserve their placement for the next update.

BBJ asked 'What’s next?' in the opening post....

It seems to me that FTD is leaving a lot of money on the table and has mi$$ed some other golden opportunities:

$25/mo to be on the auto-no-dOG list :mmonkey<---closest thing to a dog we've got) where you’ll be guaranteed to never see another order from Kay’s or JF, even through domestic retrans.

$5 for each order you fail to d-Con. :scooter: I mean, do you know how much it costs to call you to confirm you delivered their orders?

$10 to make a complaint about an OG or anything to do with FTD. :soapbox: Hey, you asked for the orders…what do you expect?

Any others?

 

[RWK]

Whoa there.....Let's not give FTD any more ideas:idear::idear:

 

[Pandalou]

Ted,
You're right, we do have our trusted florists marked in our software. I just needed to vent.
Sharon

 

[TexasFlowerGuy]

I agree....No I Don't!!!!! Maybe

My recommendation would for each shop to understand how "winning/ losing the bid" would impact them...before making a judgement as to what to do. Further, I would suggest that everyone "do the numbers" before they decide.

From a business standpoint, I think the answer is always Yes if! Yes, I will bid $50 if it will bring in $5000 in new business.... for example. If the numbers don't work for you....hey...don't do it.

Honestly, I don't think it will work for me...but I will decide based on the numbers...what do I get if I win, what do I lose if I lose.

I am sure all of you have already thought about this...but anyhow...I had to try and say something.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your ideas.

 

[bloomz]

Actually, this could trun out to be a big help to florists. Think about it. The guy who wins the bid, gets the top position, buys a banner ad, who is he or she, "a florist without a clue." Is this somone you want your orders to be filled by?

Usually not - and a very good point - what an easy way to spot FWOAC's.

Thing is tho - some of those FWOAC's actually provide good value since they can't do math and are still buying into that "get your product into homes" line and sinker. (little play on words there)