WS Desperate for filling shops

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antherian

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Nov 18, 2007
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Idaho Falls, ID / Jackson, WY
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I received a call on my cell phone last friday from FTD.
They said that they were worried about order fullfillment of ftd.com orders, especially the codified ones, in our service areas. They offered discounts on product and shipping in an effort to pursuade me to fill their direct to consumer orders.
All the time I'm thinking, "How stupid do they think I am?"
I've chosen not to carry any codified product from any of the wire services for the last 3 holidays. Best move ever. I'm sick of trying to fill as pictured for the below standard pricing given, addressing consumer concerns (complaints which make my shop look bad) of "not as full as pictured" when as simlar as possible or fill to value is given as an order second choice.
I told her no. She then said, "may I ask why". I let her have it. Then I told her to tell management my opinions.
The best way to curtail the OG and WS problem is to not support the practices that are bad for the Retailer. It needs to be win win.
I-
 
Good for you! Was her response stunned silence? I wonder if the salespeople really get the big picture sometimes, especially when alot of florists don't even realize whats going on!
 
I am noticing while sending my wire orders out, that, they are more and more towns that do not have a florist that serves Teleflora or FTD.
Especially small towns.

I take it as a sign of what is to come.
 
antherian said:
I received a call on my cell phone last friday from FTD.
They said that they were worried about order fullfillment of ftd.com orders, especially the codified ones, in our service areas. They offered discounts on product and shipping in an effort to pursuade me to fill their direct to consumer orders.
All the time I'm thinking, "How stupid do they think I am?"
I've chosen not to carry any codified product from any of the wire services for the last 3 holidays. Best move ever. I'm sick of trying to fill as pictured for the below standard pricing given, addressing consumer concerns (complaints which make my shop look bad) of "not as full as pictured" when as simlar as possible or fill to value is given as an order second choice.
I told her no. She then said, "may I ask why". I let her have it. Then I told her to tell management my opinions.
The best way to curtail the OG and WS problem is to not support the practices that are bad for the Retailer. It needs to be win win.
I-
Click to expand...

I certainly understand your reasons for not taking their order and this is not meant as a criticism...but what happens to the sender of that order...do they now reach our for something else other than flowers like a drop ship item of chocolates or fruit. How do you combat that alternative gift delivery when they cannot get their flowers delivered. I am concerned that we may be shooting ourselves in the foot trying to save our industry but I don't have an easy answer. And we likewiswe are not carrying codifieds, although I got in this huge arguement with and FTD.com person who said we were...we went back and forth...later that week I went to the warehouse and lo and behold they had shipped a mix box of Thanksgiving crap and one of my staffers had accepted it and put it in the warehouse...we managed to move it for the local folks but they are getting trickier and trickier...if you are not checking your statements...DO IT NOW...we had the ftd university charge removed only to find the National bridal charge added...it is a constant battle to keep up...and for now getting rid of them is not the answer but it is tempting at times.
Sher
I wasn't clear..we did not order the items..they sent them..sorry for that
 
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Sher said:
I certainly understand your reasons for not taking their order and this is not meant as a criticism...but what happens to the sender of that order...do they now reach our for something else other than flowers like a drop ship item of chocolates or fruit. How do you combat that alternative gift delivery when they cannot get their flowers delivered. I am concerned that we may be shooting ourselves in the foot trying to save our industry but I don't have an easy answer. And we likewiswe are not carrying codifieds, although I got in this huge arguement with and FTD.com person who said we were...we went back and forth...later that week I went to the warehouse and lo and behold they had shipped a mix box of Thanksgiving crap and one of my staffers had accepted it and put it in the warehouse...we managed to move it for the local folks but they are getting trickier and trickier...if you are not checking your statements...DO IT NOW...we had the ftd university charge removed only to find the National bridal charge added...it is a constant battle to keep up...and for now getting rid of them is not the answer but it is tempting at times.
Sher
I wasn't clear..we did not order the items..they sent them..sorry for that
Click to expand...

We're definitely not saving our industry by filling orders below standard margins. It's becoming harder and harder for the brick and mortar shop to survive. We are the backbone of the industry. OG and WS direct to consumers can't succeed without us. We provide, expertise, service, and knowledge, that the consumer can't send in a box. We must strengthen ourselves as professionals. We need to band together and speak in one voice. We must educate each other and be courageous and vocal to our affiliate organizations. OG and WS need to know that we have come to understand their scheme. They must report to shareholders. They want to succeed and I beleive that they know they need us to succeed as well. For us to succeed, we need to be treated professionaly and responsably.
Many shops are caught in a mirage, and they are enthusiastic to fill WS direct to consumer and OG orders, not understanding the long term effect on the industry.
We're shooting ourselves in the foot if we keep filling the orders as they are sent to us. We must help other shop owners understand this. I recognize that some consumers will or may choose to spend their gift dollars on chocolates or other gift items. (this is a much spoken concern) The health of our industry should come first. The customers will follow. They will be drawn to what we can offer.
 
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antherian said:
I recognize that some consumers will or may choose to spend their gift dollars on chocolates or other gift items. (this is a much spoken concern)
Click to expand...
Yes it is...but some of us don't believe the hype.
 
Maybe you should believe

BOSS said:
Yes it is...but some of us don't believe the hype.
Click to expand...
Maybe florists should believe the hype. The statistics show that floral sales at florist shops have not risen for a few years now. That means that when you factor in inflation, sales are falling.

I think florists are so blinded with not filling wire orders that they are losing the consumer. Look at FTD and 800Flowers and Proflowers, these corporations are increasing their direct shipped sales. Those sales are sales not going to florists.

I can see not filling orders for ordergatherers, but by limiting the consumers choices to send flowers to family and friends, can backfire. We should be spending more time working to make sales grow instead of putting roadblocks on the flower buying public.

 
sfox love the TOTOism whats up with that?

Perhpas I have a skewed view of the drop/direct ship model, and the *theory* that consumers are not buying flowers in favor of other non-floral gifts.

I would state, from MY perspective, that this is not the case based on my (and only my) sales figures over the last few years. Floral purchases continue to increase month over month of the previous year. As you know, I also sell many gift lines, even candy etc...

I *used* to offer cheese cakes on my site...did it for 2 years...never sold a one.

Yes we are seeing the wires and others offer product selections not related to florals, but I feel this is their attempt to sell anything and that the consumer that buys a cheese cake or whatever was not looking for flowers in the first place, and simply bought from FTD (for instance) because they found the item they were looking for originally in their search and trusted the known brand over someone else for their needs.

Yes floral sales are flat nationally but I don;t think it's because of other items as there have always been other gift choices available. Maybe were just doing a bad job of keeping flowers as a top of mind gift.
 
consumers "shift" their spending power to the areas that they are comfortable with!!
If you run a well rounded florist business, chances are, you'll be the survivor B&M shop in your area, HOWEVER, more and more consumers are really time deficient, and will spend their money at the most convenient places, SO, if YOU make it easy for THEM to buy at YOUR shop, YOU will get the sales.
Our sales too, continue to increase, month over month, HOWEVER, I DOO notice my own customers buying convenience bouquets, when shopping at local supermarkets/and or plants for impulse sales, and THAT, we cannot stop.
We have NO CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENT to fill OG orders, so, fill them at your own peril.
Large OG operations like 1800, FTD, ProFlowers, have HAD to turn to direct shipping, because SO MANY REAL FLORISTS have refused to fill for them, and they KNOW that, so are finding other transport methods.
This winter is gonna destroy a lot of OG business, boxed & direct shipped cut flowers, THUS, I would think that the florists business is still gonna be stable, BUT, we cannot do what we've always done!!
 
You missed the point

BOSS said:
Yea...what Mikey said!
Click to expand...

You guys missed the point. Too much talk about wire services is negative. The person that started this thread makes comments like...... " Many shops are caught in a mirage, and they are enthusiastic to fill WS direct to consumer and OG orders, not understanding the long term effect on the industry.
We're shooting ourselves in the foot if we keep filling the orders as they are sent to us. We must help other shop owners understand this. I recognize that some consumers will or may choose to spend their gift dollars on chocolates or other gift items. (this is a much spoken concern) The health of our industry should come first. The customers will follow."

This type of comment is out of focus. THE CONSUMER WILL NOT FOLLOW. They are the ones we need to stay in business. In order to be successful you have to give them what they are looking for. The original poster is a member of FTD. If he actually believes what he is saying, why belong at all? I agree that wire service specials are sometimes out of touch with practicality, but consumers still want these types of floral gifts. And to say that the health of our industry hinges on us not giving the consumer what they want is crazy. Now I am not saying fill orders for ordergatherers, but if those orders could only be purchased and filled by real florists, then they lose.

And the consumers willingness to purchase gifts other then flowers is real. And if we don't get with the program that they, the consumer, demand, then we will disappear, not the ordergatherers. FTD, 800Flowers will still be selling dropped shipped items, we will be the ones with empty shops wondering where did all the customers go.
 
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sfox said:

In order to be successful you have to give them what they are looking for. The original poster is a member of FTD. If he actually believes what he is saying, why belong at all? I agree that wire service specials are sometimes out of touch with practicality, but consumers still want these types of floral gifts. And to say that the health of our industry hinges on us not giving the consumer what they want is crazy. Now I am not saying fill orders for ordergatherers, but if those orders could only be purchased and filled by real florists, then they lose.

And the consumers willingness to purchase gifts other then flowers is real. And if we don't get with the program that they, the consumer, demand, then we will disappear, not the ordergatherers. FTD, 800Flowers will still be selling dropped shipped items, we will be the ones with empty shops wondering where did all the customers go.
Click to expand...

What is it that the consumer is demanding?

The only thing that I see is cheaper product. They want something different and unique but they only want to spend $20. Right?
 
Not really

Eric S said:
What is it that the consumer is demanding?

The only thing that I see is cheaper product. They want something different and unique but they only want to spend $20. Right?
Click to expand...

Not really. Keep in mind that the economy is weakening so it means many people are feeling the economic pinch. But the upside is that is even though money is tightening, they still want a floral gift. And there still exists the consumer that is not affected by the economy so they are willing to spend. Too many florists are not willing to cater to both ends of the spectrum.

We as florists need to focus even more on the wishes of the consumer and by doing our thing vs doing what the consumer has an appetite for is only shooting ourselves in the foot.
 
sfox said:
This type of comment is out of focus. THE CONSUMER WILL NOT FOLLOW. They are the ones we need to stay in business. In order to be successful you have to give them what they are looking for. The original poster is a member of FTD. If he actually believes what he is saying, why belong at all? I agree that wire service specials are sometimes out of touch with practicality, but consumers still want these types of floral gifts. And to say that the health of our industry hinges on us not giving the consumer what they want is crazy. Now I am not saying fill orders for ordergatherers, but if those orders could only be purchased and filled by real florists, then they lose.

And the consumers willingness to purchase gifts other then flowers is real. And if we don't get with the program that they, the consumer, demand, then we will disappear, not the ordergatherers. FTD, 800Flowers will still be selling dropped shipped items, we will be the ones with empty shops wondering where did all the customers go.
Click to expand...

If we sit by, content to receive and fill the "out of touch with practicality" and don't become vocal to those collecting the orders, We too will become "out of touch with practicality" or better said "out of touch with profitability" and the B&M shop will still be the looser.

FTD direct ship, and OG will never be able to provide the quality, service, expertise, and design that we are aiming for.
Maybe some B&M shops are aiming to low and feel threatened.
Remember that there's always room at the top.
I-
 
sfox said:
Not really. Keep in mind that the economy is weakening so it means many people are feeling the economic pinch. But the upside is that is even though money is tightening, they still want a floral gift. And there still exists the consumer that is not affected by the economy so they are willing to spend. Too many florists are not willing to cater to both ends of the spectrum.

We as florists need to focus even more on the wishes of the consumer and by doing our thing vs doing what the consumer has an appetite for is only shooting ourselves in the foot.
Click to expand...



This right here is as damaging to our industry as any other aspect. The fact that there are many florists not willing to make anything for less than $40 bucks. This makes florists look expensive and out of some peoples leagues. There is no reason why you cannot make a nice 20 or 25 dollar bud vase or small tight arrangement and deliver it, especially if you price your deliveries right and profitable. There is a huge gap in price points at most flower shops. Your average fowers shop usually carries $5-7 cash and carry items then it jumpst right up to $35-40 arrangements with not much to choose inbetween. This is a weakness that the grocery stores recognized years ago and capitalized on. We may not be able to compete with their prices alone but we can sell those items and deliver them same day which most of them cannot do with any success. Most of the groceries do offer delivery but they wire them out and none can promise thier 5.99 tulips delivered same day from a florist, because we won't. Treat your own customers to the perks of sameday delivery for less money and they will send their gifts through you instead of getting it at the grocery and hand delivering it...
 
Eric S said:
What is it that the consumer is demanding?

The only thing that I see is cheaper product. They want something different and unique but they only want to spend $20. Right?
Click to expand...

Customers still yearn for personalized service, value in offerings (not always quantity), "uniqueness", and the new and the exciting (how many florists go regularly to market?). How much better do we become as creative desingers and entrepreneurial businessmen, if we can offer something that matches the above criteria, that is profitable within our business model, that strengthens our own image and brand, and builds relationships with our local customers, and retails for $20?
Customers still want the same criteria for $50, $150, $750, and $15000 desings. They will never get this from a direct ship program.
 
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