interesting note on FTD.com website for MD

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keith

keith

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Jan 22, 2003
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Beaverton
www.beavertonflorists.com
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Oregon
I was checking what we could expect from .com for the MD holiday and was surprised to see this

For Delivery by a Florist:

Same day delivery by an FTD® Florist is available in most areas of the U.S. and Canada on orders placed as late as 2p.m. in the recipient's time zone Monday through Friday (earlier times may apply to some areas). Saturday and Sunday deliveries are available in some areas for orders placed by 12 noon in the recipient's time zone. For same day delivery by a florist, a $20.99 service charge will be added at checkout. Delivery Policies

WOW, a $20.99 service charge for florist delivered! any bets on what we get for delivery??
(note it was for the value roses in the laura ashley vase)

what a sad day that we are getting screwed agin and paying for it.

Keith
 
That's sure a good way to push them off of ordering flowers and switching to some drop@@@@ gift now, doesn't it?

Proving again we are their last resort, only to be used when they can't talk bargain or cajole the consumer into NOT using us by buying them stupid flowers.

We all know they get a keystone markup on gifts, double what they make from floral orders
 
They must have upped the fee to cover their expected difficulty in getting someone to fill the last minute order. They must expect having to make alot of phone calls.


Talk about punnishing the customer for the privilage of taking the order.
 
flowerknife+us said:
cover their expected difficulty in getting someone to fill the last minute order.
Click to expand...

I have heard from quite a few Real Florists that are already planning on SUSpending their Merc's on Wednesday or Thursday of MD week...thinking that it will force consumers to order thru their web sites...

Problem I see here is that, 1) will the consumers find their web sites? 2) FTD will have already collected the order and the consumer will ass-u-me that it's going to be delivered on time, 3) that FTD will simply select another florist and get it filled on their CC...

The $20.99 thing is, IMHO OUTRAGEOUS, but folks will pay it... I guarantee it!
 
Speaking of SUSpending the systems

Why is it that members have no problem in doing a SUSPEND or in tf's case a STOP message durning the ONE Holiday yet, when we have real discussions about getting rid of the ws problems no one is talking about having to do those stop message(s).Sad to see the overwhelming of those orders only ONCE each and every year, Mother's Day which causes the Majority to have to turn away there Local Customers orders.

Holidays and WS's and Local Orders are no different than those Televised Poker Games....Where and When can you CASH IN?
 
Keith,

I'm not seeing that surcharge text on FTD.com. Still only mentions the $10.99 service fee. Do you have a link to the page?

I do want to mention that if this fee goes into effect, then every local florist should consider running Save $20.99 off FTD.com's price in their pay-per-click campaigns and on their website home pages during Mother's Day weekend. :>:
 
CHR said:
Keith,

I'm not seeing that surcharge text on FTD.com. Still only mentions the $10.99 service fee. Do you have a link to the page?

I do want to mention that if this fee goes into effect, then every local florist should consider running Save $20.99 off FTD.com's price in their pay-per-click campaigns and on their website home pages during Mother's Day weekend. :>:
Click to expand...

You need to check out the Laura Ashley rose arrangement. It appears that FTD is just going to make up a bunch of these arrangements and FED EX them. Same day service with the $20.99 delivery fee is for retail florists, next day and 2 day etc appears to be going FED EX or UPS.

The more I think about this the more angry I get.

Joe

P.S. I guess it is too much to assume that FTD will send that same day delivery fee to the filling florist?!?
 
Ahhhh, now I get it.

This is to address the problem they had with V-Day where they couldn't get florists to fill orders for the same price as the boxed-shipped specials. So they need an extra $10 to give to filling florists to take the orders last minute, too-late-to-ship-and-cut-out-the-local-flower-shop purchases.

Otherwise it's, "Mom, do it yourself" for a $10 savings. Wonder if Mom can make it look like the picture? Is this a quality assurance issue? ;)
 
I'll bet they are covering the extra labor it takes to find florists willing to fill last minute orders. We all know you don't just let them go on the merc at last minute without them bouncing around, and labor intensifies as it gets closer to the holiday.
 
The piece shown must be a bunch of 12 asst. color roses, and an empty LA vase drop-shipped dry in a box.

If YOU got the order via merc., you would probably need $69.99 to fill it - AT LEAST - right? A doz (short stem?) roses with leather in the LA vase for $69.99 incl delivery...there's that extree $20 & change...drop-ship price is $49.99...

Would you all fill it for that?

- H.
 
keith said:
do you think you are going to get this order with the $20 included?
I have a bridge.....
they are going to keep the extra unless you ask for it.
Click to expand...

Well, if they do NOT send the extree cash, then SHAME ON THEM for ripping off the customer.
Even worse, SHAME ON THE FLORIST for accepting and filling the order without the $20.

If the order comes my way, for $49.99, here's the ASK message they will get:
"Hello, thanks for the order, however we will need a price change to $69.99 to fill as requested. And, I know you got that much from the customer so FORK IT OVER!"
<f-13 - transmit message....>

Also, if they CAN it, then fine...no cost to me...

- H.

PS - we watch EVERY order to make sure it has enough $ to fill as requested. If not, an ASK is sent... This includes money needed for delivery...
 
When they send via UPS or FedEx that means www.butterfieldblooms.com will fill it.

Since I own a "Fresh from the Farm" business, epicflowers.com, I'll let you in on some info, but you might already know.

In that ad for those flowers: "Delivery is included in the price of the arrangement. A $12.99 service charge will be added. An additional surcharge of $15.00 will be added for Saturday delivery."

Means that the $12.99 will be put towards the overnight shipping, which is, on average $40ish a box to ship overnight standard. BUT the only way our type of businesses work, is the discount we get with FedEx. I know how much butterfield pays on average for their overnight shipping... $8.36 is the average.(a lot different with the HUGE discount huh?) So they are making money on the $12.99. How do I know this? Because apart of the same FedEx co-op in Miami as butterfield, 1800, kabloom, red envelope and Calyx and Corolla. How I got in with them is only explained by God's grace. This discount goes through one place in Miami, who fills the order. It was like finding a needle in the ocean, if you know how many flower people are in Miami. So, to make a long story short, the only way you can make money in the "Fresh from the farm" business is to get a 60%+ discount on overnight shipping. Ok with that said, I'll tell you how much that bouquet costs them to make in Miami: About $13, and that is with the vase. So, they are charging $50(product) + $13(handling fee) to have it sent to you. $63 total - the $13(Cost of goods) = $50 FTD makes, ball park. Nice mark up. AND IF you add the couple more bucks they are getting from that handling fee, they are making $52 profit. I love how FTD says... the shipping is included in the price. :)

Anyway... if you have any question about the business model, fresh from the farm, ask me and will give you a straight answer. Epic is poised to hit online dating businesses this summer and by June, the first ever, create your own bouquet and sent via a gift box. You won't find Epic in the search engines under flowers or florist, we aren't Proflowers or 1800flowers and don't plan on going that route.

Oh and for what it is worth and fyi, I met with FSI a few months ago and approached them about being a distributor filler for their florist's customers and they turned me down. It would be for their florists to be able to offer direct services whether it be cheesecakes or flowers. The idea was to allow the florists the ability to do what Proflowers was doing... so the local florists could say to their customers... no need to support Proflowers, we do that now. This idea is a whole other business that I have 0 time for.

If any of you want to get into the "FFtF" Fresh from the farm model, let me know. The hardest part is finding a really good shipping discount, and when I say good, I mean 60%+. Also, logistically I think to provide that many florists that FSI has, a quality product at certain times fo the year, Vday + Mday, would be a piss poor idea. BUT other items such as plants, orchids, cheesecakes, gift baskets, etc.. is a great idea. If any of you want to affiliate with epic, when if comes to the gifts, rather than the fresh flowers, let me know. As for fresh flowers, I will not affiliate with any florists due to quality at those heighten times of internet ordering, i.e. Vday or Mday. I told the guys who are funding my company, CCI, that next year on VDAY, i want to close it all down because of what happen this year.. FEDeX CAN NOT GET all the flowers out and will sit on the tarmac if the plane is full. Andy Williams told me a trick C&C does and I might copy it. ( pack a semi and drive it to Memphis to drop off).

So far on epic, we are selling 2 orchid plants for every order we take right now, which makes me happy, since plants have a higher rating when it comes to NO MESS UPS. Sure I don't make as much of a mark up on plants vs flowers, but I'm about quality, not quantity. I actually pay more in Miami to offer a better quality flower than most of the big boys. I wanted to originally set up the online dating for local florists to fill the order, but there is a HUGE issue with privacy when it come to that, BUT there is a silver lining behind that cloud. Once we establish a relationship with a few good online dating companies, I want to slowly move some of the business to trusted retail florists. Why not do that now? It has to do with privacy issues with the dating company and us that need to be established before I take that step. If you think the online dating idea is good and you want to get into it, I say good luck! You think finding that needle in the ocean was hard, you have no idea what has to be done to get this type of business going. And this is what consumes me right now and the reason why I can't work full time on my big idea for all retail florists that I have only told a few. (the next round of NDAs will be going out after Mday).

Anywho, the above is my specialty and if anyone wants to know what's going on, feel free to ask, I love helping you guys. And the second I hear about TF's FFtF business I'll let you know :) I just hope they have the integrity to let their florists know right away, unlike FTD's Butterfieldblooms.
 
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