FTD: The good, the bad, the ugly???

[A Mood For You]

I am new to the forum, some of you might know through my introduction thread that I work for a gift basket company. We are starting our retailer counter top gift basket program and would really like some input.

What are the things you like, don't like, hate, or just plain bother you about the FTD and other services like this???

Any input positive or negative would be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Jeff
www.amoodforyou.com
:help:

 

[Victoria]

Hi Jeff... glad to see you're posting.

Search the Wire Service forum. There is a gold mine of information in there... pro and con. Happy reading and keep Advil at the ready.

V

 

[A Mood For You]

i will be delving very deep into these threads. thanks

 

[duanermb]

We started back in September, one of the reasons we started here was for just that information. We have been wire service free since the start, 5 years, and had been thinking about getting one or two or three or four...

Anyway, take what you see here with caution, IMO, I have gotten the best information, I think, from speaking with other florists directly on the matter.

What's good for some businesses appears to be bad for others. You have to make a decision based on what you want to be, not what others feel about the market/industry.

 

[bloomz]

Anyway, take what you see here with caution, IMO, I have gotten the best information, I think, from speaking with other florists directly on the matter.

What's good for some businesses appears to be bad for others. You have to make a decision based on what you want to be, not what others feel about the market/industry.

That could make an excellent quote of the week.

You'll read lots of passion based wire service hating here, based solely on feelings.

always remember

opinions vary

and you know about opinions

facts and figures not so much

 

[BOSS]

You'll read lots of passion based wire service hating here, based solely on feelings.

Not so fast there meester....

The wire's are not profitable for everyone. Come on Jon admit it. Admission is the first step to recovery!:squish:

 

[bloomz]

Boss's right - they aren't profitable for florists who can't don't or won't do math and proper costing techniques.

 

[CHR]

You'll read lots of passion based wire service hating here, based solely on feelings.

I'll make a large wager that the majority of negative remarks about WSs here are due to financial issues (cost/benefit/brand identity relationships) rather than 'feelings'.

Boss's right - they aren't profitable for florists who can't don't or won't do math and proper costing techniques.

Not gonna let that one stand unchallenged. I and many others can & do do the math, and part of my job for a large florist chain was dealing with cost analysis issues.

We can argue 'proper' all day, but implying that the only people who find Big 3 WS participation unprofitable are those that cant' or wont' pay attention to their numbers is a gross exaggeration.

 

[Joe Mioux]

Boss's right - they aren't profitable for florists who can't don't or won't do math and proper costing techniques.

Not gonna let that one stand unchallenged. I and many others can & do do the math, and part of my job for a large florist chain was dealing with cost analysis issues.

Hey Bloomzie.

Cathy is correct, some florist might just get lucky, not do the math and still make a profit in the WS game.

I am working on something that might help make this decision easier for shops. Hopefully, I will publish something here in the near future.

The biggest stumbling block is florist's not knowing how many orders and the dollar volume they need in order to be a benefit for WS participation.

We have seen WS profitabilty calculators based on individual orders, but this might not be the best way to evaluate these orders.

These orders should be based on monthly and yearly WS sales and costs. Why? because of the fixed costs associated with these orders.

again, more to come.......... hopefully soon.

joe

 

[RC in Dayton and Cincinnati]

I am new to the forum, some of you might know through my introduction thread that I work for a gift basket company. We are starting our retailer counter top gift basket program and would really like some input.

What are the things you like, don't like, hate, or just plain bother you about the FTD and other services like this???

Any input positive or negative would be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Jeff
www.amoodforyou.com
:help:

Jeff,

My opinion is if you are looking to add flowers to your online business for the purpose of generating orders that you can wire out and send to other florists, it can be very profitable. The standard formula for each order sent through the wire service goes something like the following (you must be able to generate volume):

Service charge - $10-$15
wire commission - 20%
Sending rebate and incentives from the wire service - $5-$10 (depending on the volume you can generate).

For example on a $50 flower order you collect an additional service fee of $15. On top of that you receive 20% or $10. Additionally, you may receive $10 in rebates and other incentives. So on that $50 flower sale you would be compensated $35, not too darn bad a deal.

You would have to generate some serious volume to make this scenario work, but if you already have a successful thriving online business this could be a very profitable fit.

On the down side customer satisfaction is a problem as you hand over your product quality and service to third parties who are poorly compensated for their efforts.



___________________________

If you are looking to receive incoming wire orders the picture isn't so rosy.

On that same $50 order that the customer forked out $65 you already know where $35 goes, but on top of that the wire service receives a clearinghouse fee of 7% or $3.50. So, as a receiving florist you would be compensated approximately $26.50 (industry average). After you deduct a reasonable $10 delivery charge you would have $16.50 for the $50 arrangement that the customer actually paid $65 for.

On the up side of filling orders at a loss is you get to stay busy.


RC

 

[duanermb]

We started back in September, one of the reasons we started here was for just that information. We have been wire service free since the start, 5 years, and had been thinking about getting one or two or three or four...

Anyway, take what you see here with caution, IMO, I have gotten the best information, I think, from speaking with other florists directly on the matter.

What's good for some businesses appears to be bad for others. You have to make a decision based on what you want to be, not what others feel about the market/industry.

Ummm... See! :tread::tread::tread::tread::tread::tread:

 

[bloomz]

Boss's right - they aren't profitable for florists who can't don't or won't do math and proper costing techniques.

Somehow I think I hit some kind of nerve there.....

I would have loved to have had about 50 more incoming orders today, (as long as they were decent orders).

Like Heather - we had the flowers staff and I had our "volunteer" (donation) delivery people galore standing around until I sent them home by about 1:30 PM.

I would have loved to have had some more incremental sales to help with our fixed expenses.

Call me silly that way...

If you are looking to receive incoming wire orders the picture isn't so rosy.

On that same $50 order that the customer forked out $65 you already know where $35 goes, but on top of that the wire service receives a clearinghouse fee of 7% or $3.50. So, as a receiving florist you would be compensated approximately $26.50 (industry average). After you deduct a reasonable $10 delivery charge you would have $16.50 for the $50 arrangement that the customer actually paid $65 for.

RC

RC my friend - it appears you left around $7 or so out of the picture there...an oversight perhaps?

Or is it "passionate math"?:loopy

 

[MANORVILLE]

Had the flowers, design and drive staff in place. Incoming sucked ! Walk in held it's own.
Could have easily handled 300 plus or more incoming but ...................very glad we hit the brakes the way we did.
IMHO you need to see the WS on both ends of the spectrum. Until you do, you have no concept at all.
I'd guesstimate, that we cut total overhead and expenses by a staggering amount due to our damage control, and can honestly say that we are happy with the results.
Purchasing down : 25,000
Design down : 8,000
Driver/fuel : Down $7,200
etc...............
add in the cost of filling a discounted WS order...............and ..............,
........fill in the blanks.

Does that make us smart...............NO,..........yet it makes us conscious in a terrible economy !

Can you profit from WS affiliation.........Yes !
Can the majority...................NO !

 

[RC in Dayton and Cincinnati]

RC my friend - it appears you left around $7 or so out of the picture there...an oversight perhaps?

Or is it "passionate math"?:loopy

Simple math.

Customer spends a total of $65 on flowers bought through OG.COM.

OG.COM gets $35 and the wire service gets $3.50.

What does the filling florist get?

 

[prestonway]

___________________________

If you are looking to receive incoming wire orders the picture isn't so rosy.

On that same $50 order that the customer forked out $65 you already know where $35 goes, but on top of that the wire service receives a clearinghouse fee of 7% or $3.50. So, as a receiving florist you would be compensated approximately $26.50 (industry average). After you deduct a reasonable $10 delivery charge you would have $16.50 for the $50 arrangement that the customer actually paid $65 for.

On the up side of filling orders at a loss is you get to stay busy.


RC

My simply math isn't working too well this morning, but anyway...

On a $50 order you lose 30% more or less.

That leaves $35.00.

Where do you get $26.50, RC?

 

[RC in Dayton and Cincinnati]

A breakdown of an Ordergatherer order using a simple pie chart.

$50 order plus a $15 service fee.

You will notice $35.00 + $3.50 + $26.50 = $65.00 (The total amount the customer spent)

 

[duanermb]

A breakdown of an Ordergatherer order using a simple pie chart.

$50 order plus a $15 service fee.

You will notice $35.00 + $3.50 + $26.50 = $65.00 (The total the customer spent)

Doesn't the rebate come out of the WS fees?

 

[CHR]

That's Randy's point. Where do those wire service fees come from? The bank accounts of delivering florists.

 

[bloomz]

Seems somebody is catching the convenient tho innaccurate removing senders rebate from filling florists value.

Since we're playing fuzzy math smoke and mirrors here, we may as well take gas for the corporate jet and shoes for the owners wife out of the order value as well.

 

[RC in Dayton and Cincinnati]

Bloomz,

All I'm doing is removing the smoke and mirrors. If we can agree the Ordergatherer gets $35.00 and the wire service gets $3.50 we know what's left for the florist. Money doesn't appear out of thin air does it??

My math: $35.00 + $3.50 + $26.50 = $65.00
Your Math: $35.00 + $3.50 + $36.50 = $65.00

Where exactly do you think the rebate money comes from? If you say the wire services, then how do you think the wire service can collect a mere $3.50 on a typical order yet pay $10 in rebates and incentives and still make a profit?

My math is simple third grade addition. Your math simply doesn't add up.
Maybe you need a refresher course.

RC