GrowerFlowers.com Gone

CHR

CHR

Design matters
Nov 28, 2002
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Don't know how I missed this, but GrowerFlowers.com folded at the end of December. At one time, they were affiliated with more than 8000 OG websites. Some of their affiliates were the earliest to use city-specific doorway pages. Much was written about them in the OG threads here over the years.

GrowerFlowers bounced around from WS to WS. Originally with TF, they moved to FTD and then on to BloomNet at the end.

They left many affiliates unpaid when they closed up 'shop'. (See some of the posts on the Google results page.)

JustFlowers.com snatched up the domain and now operates the main site.
 
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So what does this mean to us? Does this mean that the affiliate site minions that work diligently to get these OGS webste linked and search will look at the flower industry as a passing fad...I know that affiliate jump ship quickley once the fad has passed..This would be great news..Also if florists are starting to make it harder for these OGs to be on top of the internet game by being so active on facebook and the like could they be spending now too much on customer acquisition and affiliate marketing and not winning so many first time customers, coupled with the loss of masses of customers at holidays and massive refunds...This really could be a good sign that we are making a difference by being out there, educating and making enough web presence as an industry...

Please let me know if this is the jist. I am still very green at what these kind of things mean as a trending observation..
 
lori042499 said:
So what does this mean to us?
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IMO it means that marketing flowers online on a 'national' scale is getting tougher and tougher. Organic positioning in search engines is harder to attain and AdWords and other ad channels are more costly than they've ever been. It's why FTD does ridiculous offers like with Groupon and LivingSocial. Cheaper to acquire new customers at $15-$20 per head than to run PPC ads on a holiday.

It makes more sense for TF, FTD and Bloomnet to heavily discount and gain the direct orders than for them to pay JustFlowers, FU Flowers, Blooms Today, etc... large rebates (in the $8-$10 per order range.)

GF's main product was drop-ship flowers but they never earned high marks for quality. Some of their affiliates heavily promoted same-day delivery through WS product images, but apparently there wasn't enough money left to pay the affiliates and turn a profit. IMO many of GF's affiliates also got whacked by G for duplicate content so they were likely seeing lower overall sales.

Flowerchatter03 said:
What kind of community is that?
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It's a message board for affiliate marketers. You'll see discussion about GFs allowance of 'white listed' products. This let the affiliates' sites host the products and set their own prices - and then forward the orders to GF (kind of like a WS). The affiliates kept the customers and could market to them over & over again, earning repeat commissions.

Other national flower companies primarily allow affiliates to refer buyers directly to their websites via track-able affiliate links. Once the sales are made (and commissions paid to the affiliates), the buyers typically become the 'customers' of the main site, so there's little opportunity for repeat commissions. Naturally, the affiliate marketers prefer to promote the most profitable products and earn rewards for repeat customers - which is why they liked the old GF model.
 
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So basically, they get money for doing nothing more than helping the schemers scheme. Nice. Boo hoo that they didn't get paid. I think I prefer to live in the dark. The lengths people go to gain a dollar for doing nothing boggles the mind. I never knew there was such a thing let alone a forum for like minded people to discuss their schemes further. Next thing you know, someone will tell me there is a forum for..no never mind...I don't want to know!
 
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Thank Cathy...You make us all smarter better business people by infusing us with your knowledge and I for one really appreciate it...
 
Flowerchatter03 said:
So basically, they get money for doing nothing more than helping the schemers scheme.
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Well.... not really. Affiliate marketing can be a real positive for any business. Imagine if you had an affiliate marketing set-up and could offer commissions for referrals from your local hospitals, restaurants, funeral homes, country clubs, etc...

When a customer came into your site from one of those websites, and placed an online order, the referring company would earn a commission. It would give cash incentive to companies to link directly to your site - and you could track orders based on the referrals.

The problem with having WSs sell your flowers is they set the fees, not you. They tell you what to make instead of promoting what you want to sell at prices you determine to be acceptable. They are the brand, not you.

All the national flower sellers have affiliate marketing relationships but few local florists do. Most performance marketing platforms (like Commission Junction) have monthly sales minimums ( IIRC CJs is $50K in affiliate sales/mo) well above what a typical flower shop would sell.

Affiliate marketing is not a bad thing. It's just that companies like GrowerFlowers, FTD, TF and BloomNet have allowed affiliates to use tricks like geographic misrepresentation, phony markdowns, fake offers of 'free delivery or 'free vase', etc... and then reward those companies with financial incentives to keep doing it.

Many affiliate sites work hard to honestly promote the products and brands of national companies. They do far more than 'nothing' to gain traffic and earn the trust of visitors. Amazon has tens of thousands of affiliates - and they will not put up with the kind of deception currently being 'ignored' by national flower sellers.

Affiliate marketing isn't bad, it's just that some affiliate marketers in our industry are shady and deceptive.
 
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CHR said:
Well.... not really. Affiliate marketing can be a real positive for any business. Imagine if you had an affiliate marketing set-up and could offer commissions for referrals from your local hospitals, restaurants, funeral homes, country clubs, etc...

When a customer came into your site from one of those websites, and placed an online order, the referring company would earn a commission. It would give cash incentive to companies to link directly to your site - and you could track orders based on the referrals.

The problem with having WSs sell your flowers is they set the fees, not you. They tell you what to make instead of promoting what you want to sell at prices you determine to be acceptable. They are the brand, not you.

All the national flower sellers have affiliate marketing relationships but few local florists do. Most performance marketing platforms (like Commission Junction) have monthly sales minimums ( IIRC CJs is $50K in affiliate sales/mo) well above what a typical flower shop would sell.

Affiliate marketing is not a bad thing. It's just that companies like GrowerFlowers, FTD, TF and BloomNet have allowed affiliates to use tricks like geographic misrepresentation, phony markdowns, fake offers of 'free delivery or 'free vase', etc... and then reward those companies with financial incentives to keep doing it.

Many affiliate sites work hard to honestly promote the products and brands of national companies. They do far more than 'nothing' to gain traffic and earn the trust of visitors. Amazon has tens of thousands of affiliates - and they will not put up with the kind of deception currently being 'ignored' by national flower sellers.

Affiliate marketing isn't bad, it's just that some affiliate marketers in our industry are shady and deceptive.
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Something different for our industry, lol!!!
 
I agree with Cathy, Pat. This is just a way to market to a broader base. I used to be an affiliate with Oddity. If someone was on my website and clicked over to them from my site and purchased something, I would get a commission. I had little traffic on my site, though, and when I switched to Strider, I never re-inserted the link. It was required on my home page.

Do you see how that works? I was providing a vehicle for them to be found, and they would pay a small commission for my including them on my site.
 
FTR, many affiliate marketers really care about the quality of merchants with which they affiliate. Two great threads from the affiliate forum:

Grower Flowers - another bad merchant

ProFlowers being outed for scam-type tactics

Are you surprised at the amount of concern shown by the posters about the quality of both the shopping experience and the product delivered? These people really care about their reputations and the reputations of those with which they affiliate.
 
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Hmmm... maybe after the weekend, I'll register over there and see if I can shed some light on the antics of the folks these people are affiliated with...

Might be kind of fun... as well as educational for them, and might sway some from promoting the hooligans ;)
 
CHR, Thanks for defending Affiliate Marketers!

Affiliate Marketing is a mutli-billion dollar industry (double-digit billions, in the USA alone) and contains some of the brightest marketers, developers and SEOs around. There are numerous conferences, more forums than I can count, and millions of "get rich quick by learning affiliate marketing" schemes (mostly useless).

Yes, some cross a few lines, and yes, they ought to be punished for it. Like any industry there are a few bad apples, like the affiliates who hacked Google Places listings a few years back (incidentally, working on behalf of a florist, not a WS). There are also B&M florists who snatch flowers from funeral home dumpsters ... no industry is immune from scum.

Affiliate Marketing is as old as commerce itself: "You refer some people to me and I'll compensate you somehow." The internet is just the latest venue. The successful affiliates make big, big coin, because they are smart, savvy, and understand how to sell to customers. They also want sustainability - hence the dissatisfaction with someone like GF delivering lousy product. If I invest in marketing something, building material to promote it, writing copy, even building web sites, I surely don't want to have my operation tail off because of a bad brand rep. If you're an Amazon affiliate you're in a great position because everyone knows and trusts Amazon. :)
 
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To bring 'affliate marketing' into a real world scenario.......A good florist friend of mine had a affliate set up IN her shop. She RENTED out her showroom to an antique furniture dealer. In addition to collecting a rental fee, If a peice of furniture sold, she got a commission. He in turn got a great showroom space at a hefty discount, gained customers who might not be looking for antique furniture......( flower shop visitors ), and he promoted the shop among his clientele as THE go to place in their town. She also gained great display fixtures to showcase her florals.......IN BOTH STORES.

Two businesses.......one flowers, one furniture, affliated with each other. A real world affliate marketing scheme.
 
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