1800flowers Valentine's Day Promotion $30 for $15
- Thread starter BloomingFlorida
- Start date
bootcampguy
Well-Known Member
With that pic, wondering how many think they'll get that for spending 15.00. Reality is closer to 75 by time they purchase extras, such as vase, v-day delivery, etc. My local wholesaler last year purchased a dozen Fr proflowers advertised for 20 or 25, by time all the crazy fees were added it was 75-80 & looked like they had been picked from the garbage.
anytimeflowers
Linda
I think the fact that it is a coupon is pretty clear, I doubt people will be expecting the big bouquet of roses for $15.
I imagine some will be quite surprised, as Merita points out, when they see that they've really only saved a part of the service fee but will be obliged to go ahead with the order since they've spent $15 hard cash already. They will also use it for Valentine's Day since, as of Feb. 19th, the value goes to $15 instead of $30.
I think the worst part of this is that the delivery/service fee will still bring them to believe that they have paid "extra" for delivery.
I imagine some will be quite surprised, as Merita points out, when they see that they've really only saved a part of the service fee but will be obliged to go ahead with the order since they've spent $15 hard cash already. They will also use it for Valentine's Day since, as of Feb. 19th, the value goes to $15 instead of $30.
I think the worst part of this is that the delivery/service fee will still bring them to believe that they have paid "extra" for delivery.
They will get more customers this way, their $15 service fee gone with this offer but still a nice profit of 29% off of each sale provided they will have the shops to fulfill the orders. I was projected 50-65 orders for V-Day week, now I think after the "coupon" sale they'll need to recalculate. This year 1800flowers is promising to share the "extra delivery fee" collected if customers are not accepting monday or tuesday flex-dates. Yet to check how much extra we will be getting. Maybe able to recruit additional drivers for V-Day with the extra income!
not sure I get you... are you saying that you will fill 50-65 800 flz orders for val day and now you are thinking you will get more orders from them???? and who is getting the profit of 29%
sorry kind of blonde here.
TIA
Yes, I could be getting more orders from them as this promotion is for Tampa-bay only and the numbers are already over 10K. Their projections for my store for V-Day came out at the beginning of the month before this promotion so doubt this was taken into consideration. I also buy quite a lot of their codified products which is another worrying factor. 1800flowers.com takes 29% from each order sent to florists and keep all the commission as there is no middleman to pay.
Rhonda
Well-Known Member
so instead of 100% orders you are going to let 800 glean from your customer area, take those consumers information (and then email them to death with discounts and offers) and you're going to fill them for them at a 79% payment for your work?
Unfortunately that's the way it is when you belong to a wire service. There is not much I can do to stop people buying into these offers and most people do not understand the logistics of ordering flowers. We have a customer who sends flowers to her family members at Christmas time. She'd told her family many times to use us directly to send her flowers but they just kept using TF and then TF used us to fulfill the orders. Now we are no longer TF, we don't get to send flowers to her any more. She doesn't quite understand the whole thing and I guess her family is in the same boat. Just the other day I had a guy in my store who was surprised to see we had a 1800flowers arrangement in the cooler. He thought 1800flowers had a big flower warehouse somewhere mid-country and was the biggest florist on this planet. I am sure this has to do with the State that we live in.:loopy
Clarabella
Well-Known Member
There IS a lot you can do about it....you can ditch the WS!!!! The WS is taking advantage of you and your work. They siphon all the profit out of your wallet and leave you with nothing. The only one laughing on the way to the bank is the WS!
steve
Well-Known Member
BloomingFlorida can I ask will you be able to answer your phone all day on the 13th and 14th? And if you say no is the reason because you can't deliver anymore orders? or you do not have the designer hands to produce the orders? Now if that 50 to 60 800flower orders is eating into your capacity to fill your 100 percent orders you just flushed 29% let alone the number of customers that you fail to get into your database for future marketing.
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
Filling incoming **company** orders is the biggest killer of local florists. Giving up and not concentrating on local 100% sales especially at a holiday is not good business.
Just today, Seth Godin said it very well:
Long-lasting systems can't survive if they remain insatiable.
An insatiable thirst for food, power, energy, reassurance, clicks, funding or other raw material will eventually lead to failure. That's because there's never enough to satisfy someone or something that's insatiable. The organization amps up because its need is unmet. It gets out of balance, changing what had previously worked to get more of what it craves. Sooner or later, a crash.
More fame! More money! More investment! Push too hard and you lose what you came with and don't get what you came for.
An insatiable appetite is a symptom: There's a hole in the bucket. Something's leaking out. When a system (or a person) continues to demand more and more but doesn't produce in response, that's because the resources aren't being used properly, something is leaking.
If your organization demands ever more attention or effort or cash to produce the same output, it makes more sense to focus on the leak than it does to work ever harder to feed the beast.
Just today, Seth Godin said it very well:
Long-lasting systems can't survive if they remain insatiable.
An insatiable thirst for food, power, energy, reassurance, clicks, funding or other raw material will eventually lead to failure. That's because there's never enough to satisfy someone or something that's insatiable. The organization amps up because its need is unmet. It gets out of balance, changing what had previously worked to get more of what it craves. Sooner or later, a crash.
More fame! More money! More investment! Push too hard and you lose what you came with and don't get what you came for.
An insatiable appetite is a symptom: There's a hole in the bucket. Something's leaking out. When a system (or a person) continues to demand more and more but doesn't produce in response, that's because the resources aren't being used properly, something is leaking.
If your organization demands ever more attention or effort or cash to produce the same output, it makes more sense to focus on the leak than it does to work ever harder to feed the beast.
bootcampguy
Well-Known Member
Well said Steve. VD is about 60 - 70% of the years profits, so you have to always be aware of it. I put 500 pieces into a tractor trailer for VD, I can sell those to og, ws or local people. In the years past I've tried to be a "floral hero" and save everyone's floral needs. I can't do that. I now monitor it very closely, F2F at 15% - 20% and do zero for OG's. The word "no" is the new "survive" method...........i'm just say'in
Unfortunately we can't ditch 1800flowers. They have been very profitable for us. We sell a lot of their codified items in the store and our own websites. Their gift baskets sell like hot cakes too. We also get a lot of high end orders (over $100) and 9 out of 10 times we ask for extra $$ on an order we get it. I just don't like the fact that they are doing this promotion because I don't know how this will affect our bloomnet V-Day orders and yes, they are taking away our customers who otherwise would have spent their flower money in our store.
GO ahead and sell those codified items to your local customers and off your web site... Just STOP filling for the beast is what we are all saying.
This Val start weaning yourself off the "crack" and say only fill XX amt of orders priced at XX amt of money (fill in the X and really the smaller the number the better for YOU), the remaining go to the NO File. You will be surprised how much money YOU have left in your pocket when all is said and done. AND you will not be running around crazy trying to jump thru 88flz hoops and take the HIT on their grand marketing idea.
Everyone who has commented here has "been there - done that" for the wires. Heck, Boss used to get a Pay check from one of them. BUT we all ran the numbers and finally realized IT doesn't pay to Play with the big 3.
Good luck and MAKE SOME MONEY.
I know what you are saying but remember wire services can always be turned off. I am not sure when we are going to do it this year, last year it all happened on V-Day Monday at 10am. This year it may be the same - I mean Monday as opposed to Tuesday - but I will need to speak to my rep early next week to get some insight into this stupid promotion. It will be 1800flowers' headache to find florists that will honor the "coupon" orders for V-Day and I won't be one of them.
I understand what you are saying. I wish we could be wire free but the competition here is enormous. There is a florist on every freaking corner and most of them have TF and FTD. Only a few have 1800 that's probably why we are doing ok but who knows what the future brings. Last year I was venting about TF and couldn't wait to see the back of them, next year I may be venting about how 1800's growing franchising business paired with their new enterprise with edible arrangements is affecting our business. :hammer:
BOSS
FlowerChat Administrator
Soooo.... what makes you unique? Just another wire service shop?? Concentrate on what you do best, that others don't...
We have a new saying around my shop... "We are Elite"... we don't do cookie cutter, don;t do wires... we educate our guests, and let them decide...
That is another reason I would drop 1800 like a hot rock. They are the only wire service (that I know of) who is also pursuing B&M retail storefronts. Every order you fill for them gives them 1 more happy customer for when they decide to open a branded shop in your town. We all seem to work so hard for these wire services. I try to explain to people outside of the industry how things work, and they look at me like I'm crazy. That should tell us something; we are killing our own business.
