How many designs do you offer on your website?

[sandytf]

I have been working on our Strider site and I'm having a really hard time deciding how many diverse designs to show.

On one hand, I would like to feature many so that there is a great selection-yet on the other hand then I run the risk of showing designs that may not be available EVERY DAY in EVERY LOCATION.

The thread about the dahlias got me thinking about this. Honestly if we showed only those designs containing flowers that all five of our locations stock every day-it would be quite boring and not show the diversity of what we usually carry and can do.

How many of you show seasonal arrangments including flowers like peonies, tulips, dahilas, etc that you don't have year round? And do you flag them as "seasonal"? Even blooming plants can present a challenge. We don't necessarily have mums, azaleas, cyclamens, gerberas, AND kalanchoes on any given day. We may two or three of them.

I know a lot of people complain about the volume of the wire service selection guide and how it's misleading because no florist can carry the variety of flowers and containers in it. Just trying to strike a balance and make the selection relevant for our customers.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[RWK]

Sandy, I want to help answer this question, but I'll have to do so later on this evening.
Got a couple ideas for you that may solve your dilemma.

 

[Chezbloom]

We have around 50. We mark some as seasonal. But they are all our own designs so we buy the same types and colors of flowers a few times a week. Then we have seasonal pages we swap in and out. Its a work in progress but we can usually make any of our designs any day of the week....usually

 

[Kristine]

Oh man I hear you. (I'm working on a strider site too )

I've been looking at other sites such as Oberer's (not a vast selection but GREAT selections) to some sites with PAGES of stuff. I am not sure having such a huge selection is a bonus. I know I get really impatient when there are so many choices it's hard to choose.

When tracking from our current web site there seems to be gravitation to certain selections. Whether that is because of limited choice or it appeals to most.

I want to have a seasonal bouquet or designers choice. We grow a bunch of different cuts and may have unusual every different day. Its a shame not to feature this. The only way I can figure is in the descriptions Summer brings dahlia, amaranthus, etc, Spring brings peony, hellebore's, forsythia etc.

I want to have all my own images and know it's a work in progress.

Does anyone know Randy's philosophy on the amount of selections he offers? thanks

 

[BOSS]

I have been working on our Strider site and I'm having a really hard time deciding how many diverse designs to show.

On one hand, I would like to feature many so that there is a great selection-yet on the other hand then I run the risk of showing designs that may not be available EVERY DAY in EVERY LOCATION.

How many is too many?? No clue...

I do know, I set my site up for selling order in Midland MI, not Corvallis OR. If someone orders something for a location I do not deliver to directly, they get an email that alerts them to the "we'll come as close as possible" disclaimer...

Funny thing is, I have no ws images on the site, and have never had a problem with a wire out... go figure...cookie cutters HA!
______________
Chez has about 50, I have a couple hundred... no worries...

With a Strider site you can assign the same design to multiple occasions, or to only one... I'm more concerned with the number per occasion(working on that again now) than in total. By setting the occasion on each design and selecting different ones your pages will look different too... it's easy to turn them on and off... like the pages for Bosses and Sweetest Day only show up for a month or so then they are gone til next year....

 

[Johan]

I have about 20 flower arrangements,bouquets and hand tieds then about 10/12 funeral designs. I change my designs frequently so number go slightly up and down according to season. Some of my pictures on my site just shown a group of flowers in certain shades such as pink and white. I use these pictures along with a description that says this a hand tied for example in shades of pink white and green. Flower content will differ according to the season. I do several of these and they are popular. It means you don't feel you have to stock exact flowers. Just make sure you have those colours. I only have limited designs for same day delivery. most of mine are for next day. Or 72 hours on funerals.

 

[Rhonda]

right now I have way too many and not any of my own work (which is a work in progress, still) and I have to whittle them down. On some that have seasonal flowers or specific containers, I am making changes in descriptions that include subsitutions will be made.

 

[RWK]

Okay Sandy - I told you I wanted to toss some information in.

Out of ALL the myriads of sites I have seen, both bookmarked and listed on FC - Randy's website - www.oberers.com represents the pinnacle for good quality site design in my opinion.

Now, as to the number of images.......Most sites I run across have anywhere from fifteen to twenty on each page......and even I get confused.

I would list about 10 items per occasion.....However....EACH ITEM....when you click on that item....shows three images....a low priced version, a medium priced version, and a high priced version.

 

[sloan]

We're working on our Strider site also. Have already made mistakes, and it's not even up yet.... Who has time to do all of these photos? Thought I had a handle on what I wanted, but ...... not so much. Finding out I am a lot more opinionated than I thought on my site............ Learning as we go......

 

[sandytf]

It's not so much about the exact number of designs, it's more about showing something on the site that we don't have in stock all of the time. On any given day we have a large selection of flowers-just not always the same ones. Here's an example

What if it happens that we don't have sunflowers that day? That would seriously jeapordize the integrity of this design. So do I leave it out even though we could fill it 8 times out of 10? It's making me crazy!

So far all of the designs I have up on the site are our own. That's my goal-no stock images. Even if it takes awhile to get photos of sympathy work. I'm also not crazy about the quality of all my photos but I'll also work on that over time.

thanks to everyone for giving me their input so far!

 

[RC in Dayton and Cincinnati]

Okay Sandy - I told you I wanted to toss some information in.

Out of ALL the myriads of sites I have seen, both bookmarked and listed on FC - Randy's website - www.oberers.com represents the pinnacle for good quality site design in my opinion.

Now, as to the number of images.......Most sites I run across have anywhere from fifteen to twenty on each page......and even I get confused.

I would list about 10 items per occasion.....However....EACH ITEM....when you click on that item....shows three images....a low priced version, a medium priced version, and a high priced version.

It's funny this topic has been brought up again because I've also been struggling with what images to show and how many. Not to hijack this thread, which I seem to have the ability to do, but I'd like some feedback on the page below.

In order to keep the customer from clicking on too many pages to get to orderable items, we've decided to stack some items of the same category. To get to this page from the home page the customer will have to go to the sympathy page then to this page. With thumbnails they'd have to go to the thumbnail page then to each item page to order, one additional page.

It used to be a rule not to make the customer scroll too much, but now with the way blogs are set up people are used to scrolling. It also used to be an issue of having too many large images on one page, but that doesn't seem to be an issue anymore.

My question, do you think this setup is as good as having a page of thumbnails?


Full Cremation Tributes by Oberer's

Thanks for your feedback,
RC

 

[CHR]

Sandy - My answer to you is that we have too many. Am paring down this week.

Randy - Yes, people are now used to scrolling but since your image fills the page, they may not - so why not have the best of both and put shortcuts on the right side that link to the sequential images? Great photos!

 

[Toddxxx]

Sandy,

Could you just put a disclaimer under the pics along the lines of "We will do our best to make sure the flowers delivered are as close as possible to the image shown, however not all flowers are available in all colours everyday, so we may have to substitute some colours or flowers" ?

That statement is a bit long, but you can see what I mean I am thinking of doing something like this.

 

[BOSS]

My question, do you think this setup is as good as having a page of thumbnails?


Full Cremation Tributes by Oberer's

Thanks for your feedback,
RC

Randy....

I like it! It would work for me, but I don't spend much time online

Actually, for this **category** I think it works very well. The way you have staged the images would not work well with thumbnails. Small images would not show enough detail forcing the consumer to click on each one to actually see something, I think scrolling *in this case* is much more beneficial for viewing.

I do not think it would apply to any other **category** except perhaps casket sprays (ie: large items/images) depending on your thumbnail size.

You may want to consider a small arrow pointing down, on the right side, with "Scroll down for more selections" to alert folks there is more to see...

HTH

 

[master J]

Sandy, I would not drive yourself nuts worrying about having every flower in stock thats on your website- It's impossible IMO.

Most orders will give you option to sub, however like you said, when the sunflowers are not in stock for that vase you attached to this thread, well then just call the customer and let them know you will create something similar using a sub for sunflowers such as yellow gerbera daisy.

We have some days towards the end of unpredictable busy week (Fri-Sat) in the summer, where we clean out of flowers! It's scary, when we have nothing left on a Sat. and customer walks in and has slim pickins....

That does not mean I am going to remove all my images off my site and show nothing. Your website is a place for people to see your work too, for browsing purposes.

With that being said, I also have way too many choices on my site too, will have to also cut back.

I also think RC has it nailed, as for the right selection of choices and top quality unique photos!

 

[peggy70130]

Our site is just a simple FrontPage site and we've put our own pictures on it. We've said in several places on the site that the designs are an example of size and they show different color combinations but they will not necessarily be the same flowers. We also have a short description or little blurb under each photo where we can let customers know that certain flowers shown are seasonal and that we'll get as close as possible to the look and spirit of the arrangement.
The way the site is set up right now, we have to call the customers back for credit card information, so at that time too, we can let them know what we have available. Soon we will be adding a shopping cart and won't have to call back, but from what I read somewhere you can add a line or so of verbage to the order form and could state there that the seasonal flowers may not be available.

 

[Dazeal]

Randy those pics look really nice!

Weddings and Funerals aside, static images will be a thing in the past and we'll be telling our grandchildren of light cubes and the substitution clause.

 

[Rhonda]

Our site is just a simple FrontPage site and we've put our own pictures on it. We've said in several places on the site that the designs are an example of size and they show different color combinations but they will not necessarily be the same flowers. We also have a short description or little blurb under each photo where we can let customers know that certain flowers shown are seasonal and that we'll get as close as possible to the look and spirit of the arrangement.
The way the site is set up right now, we have to call the customers back for credit card information, so at that time too, we can let them know what we have available. Soon we will be adding a shopping cart and won't have to call back, but from what I read somewhere you can add a line or so of verbage to the order form and could state there that the seasonal flowers may not be available.

Peggy, I really like your site and for small town like Millinocket, that type of site would work for us but I just couldn't figure out how to actually get it done in time which is why I went with Strider and am hoping to put more "designer's choice" on the gallery with my work. But still find most people call while looking at the website anyway. Gotta love small town!

 

[Victoria]

Sandy, wouldn't a small disclaimer indicating the necessity of substitutions of an equal quality, look and value be an answer?

That's on every page of the service books (or at least it used to be).

V

 

[Palms]

I think the more choice the better and a mixture of pictures is good too.

Like V said i have a notice underneath my bouquets to say that flowers may vary due to seasonal and stock availability. If the bouquet is going to look too different from the picture i give the customer a quick call and let them know.

For some bouquets i have a notice to say that the design requires 48 hours notice, I can then get the flowers in my next delivery.

Randy, your pictures are fab but that does not surprise me