FTD is....

[shannonlovesflowers]

Something about my shop must be different. FTD seems like the safest WS on the market right now. I assume that TF will be the first to go because they don't have a major OG. I get 5 times the FTD orders that I get from TF, and 2/3 of the FTD orders I get are from FTD.com. I think that what will happen is enough shops will leave FTD to make it profittable to fill for the few that remain. We have 14 FTD shops serving Chattanooga right now. If half of those shops quit then I could just hire minimum wage workers to do nothing but fill FTD.com orders and make a mint! The fees will drop back down at some point, and FTD.com will drive orders into the medium/major cities and the small/rural areas won't have anyone to fill.

They are also going to focus on drop shipping, and the shipping technology is getting better every year. I know that the idea of drop shipping flowers makes our skin crawl. However, I talk to consumers all the time that are perfectly happy with Proflowers, and have been using them for years. I get them to convert by explaining I can save the $24.95 shipping fee.

Yes our arrangements are head and shoulders above anything Proflowers can deliver, but happy customers simply don't shop around

Sorry to say this- but with this statement, especially the happy go lucky "I can just hire MINIMUM WAGE designers...." You are the type of shop owner I loath.
Actually- I'm not sorry to say it.

And then shop owners WONDER why designers like me (a good designer that wont work for minimum wage) Open up thier own homebased businesses.
Good designers are so devalued anymore. Until you actually need one.

 

[CHR]

FWIW, FTD has reported that florist-filled orders this past v-day were up 24% in 2011 vs 2010, and up 17% in 2010 vs 2009. Around 70% of FTD company orders are filled by florists, double what they sent to florists before United bought FTD.

IIRC FTD did not offer drop ship flowers for deliver ON Monday, 2/14 on orders placed from 2/11 - 2/14 so anyone wanting V Day delivery had to go florist-delivered. Also, the holiday volume was 'up' across all channels due to the holiday falling on a week day.

AFAIK, the 17% increase in florist-delivered orders in 2010 was primarily due to FTD's deal with USAA (25% discount on all orders). The Oct-Dec. period of 2010 was the first where the program was fully in place during both quarters (it began in Sept. 2009). Order volume there was flat when comparing apples to apples.

One has to wonder why they emphasize drop-ship so much, when 70% of their orders go to florists. Are customers really preferring drop ship or are they choosing it because that's what's there?

They emphasize drop-ship because 1) the margins are higher and 2) they have 100% coverage with little/no substitution issues.

 

[jamie]

Sorry to say this- but with this statement, especially the happy go lucky "I can just hire MINIMUM WAGE designers...." You are the type of shop owner I loath.
Actually- I'm not sorry to say it.

And then shop owners WONDER why designers like me (a good designer that wont work for minimum wage) Open up thier own homebased businesses.
Good designers are so devalued anymore. Until you actually need one.

Sorry it took me so long to respond, I was out back drowning kittens.

You don't need a shop full of the best of the best of the best of the best designers. You only need 1 great designer, everyone else just needs to be able to execute well enough to keep your customers happy. I understand that many of the people on this forum are designers and this probably doesn't sit well with them, but it is the truth. The everyday customer doesn't need award winning design. They just need something pretty to lift someone's spirits.

I have interviewed more than one designer who said they couldn't work for what I was offering (slightly below the regional average), but they are usually looking for a job because their old boss had to let them go because "they couldn't afford them anymore." Your hourly wage has to justify itself all day long, all week long, and all year long. Otherwise you become fat that can be trimmed.

Wage does not have a direct corelation to work ethic or quality. Wage is only ONE reason that people choose to work for a company. I have a great team working here and most of them have the experience and skill to make more money somewhere else. However, my people LIKE working here. It is professional; there is no backbiting drama. The managers and owners are not nutjobs that make stupid and hurtful decisions based on emotion or favoritism. The money is not the best in town, but my books are open to any employee. They can see why I pay what I pay.

I can also say that things are alot different when you have a commercial storefront. That's why, in another thread, some of the people on this forum expressed such resentment towards florists, like yourself, who operate "home based" businesses. You don't have the every day overhead of traditional brick and mortar florists who paved the way with decades of cost based pricing. I have to pay my employees the same wage in January that I do in December, the same in July and August as I do in May and June. If I have a slow week in sales, I can't just forward the phones and go to the beach. I have to keep business hours, pay the same rent and pay someone to be here.

Labor is the second biggest expense in my shop. Only CoGS is a larger expense and all other categories are wayyyy less. I watch labor as closely as anything else, and I find the cheapest labor possible that can fill the position with competency. If I pay $12 an hour for a job that can be done by someone who only needs $10 an hour then I am taking $80 a week from my family. That ain't gonna happen.

 

[lori042499]

Jamie, your statements are very true for a high volume shop, not so true of niche shops or big wedding/event shops...

 

[Matrix]

Sorry to say this- but with this statement, especially the happy go lucky "I can just hire MINIMUM WAGE designers...." You are the type of shop owner I loath.
Actually- I'm not sorry to say it.

And then shop owners WONDER why designers like me (a good designer that wont work for minimum wage) Open up thier own homebased businesses.
Good designers are so devalued anymore. Until you actually need one.

Most florists are going to have to adapt to an industry that's changing regardless of how good a product they make, how much they love making it, and how well their methods worked in the past. Although profit for the sake of profit can never fully sustain a business model imo, you can't dismiss someone for wanting to cut costs where they can. Jamie's answer was probably the best though. Ultimately as long as one person can direct the cheaper labor, the cost savings can't be frowned upon.

Btw is Teleflora really doing that poorly compared to FTD?

 

[Sabrinas]

While I agree that you shoud get the best designer for the lowest cost, I am finding it really hard to find a half ways decent designer for any wage...i continually have people come in to apply who have 2 years or whatever experience and give them a design test - 1 TF arg. from a picture, 1 doz roses, and funeral arg. Designers choice. This should show their skills quite well, most can do a dozen roses that are passible, usually not great, some can do an arg from a picture that is somewhat like the picture and few can do a designers choice that has any "design" to it. I am tired of having to hire people "with experience" and spend all my time training and fixing and redoing - especially when I could fill that order in under 15 minutes in most cases. I make well above min wage, so we hire a couple of min wage persons and I spend as much or more time doing the above as I would filling the orders my self - in the end that costs the company more then just hiring another QUALITY designer who can produce quality work at a quick pace. In my experience I can produce 3 to 4 times faster then most of the "designers" we come across.

 

[Flowermomma]

While I agree that you shoud get the best designer for the lowest cost, I am finding it really hard to find a half ways decent designer for any wage...i continually have people come in to apply who have 2 years or whatever experience and give them a design test - 1 TF arg. from a picture, 1 doz roses, and funeral arg. Designers choice. This should show their skills quite well, most can do a dozen roses that are passible, usually not great, some can do an arg from a picture that is somewhat like the picture and few can do a designers choice that has any "design" to it. I am tired of having to hire people "with experience" and spend all my time training and fixing and redoing - especially when I could fill that order in under 15 minutes in most cases. I make well above min wage, so we hire a couple of min wage persons and I spend as much or more time doing the above as I would filling the orders my self - in the end that costs the company more then just hiring another QUALITY designer who can produce quality work at a quick pace. In my experience I can produce 3 to 4 times faster then most of the "designers" we come across.

its been amazing to me too what people apply as Quality designers! Its been very eye opening looking for a new designer. At this time I have stopped looking and will just shoulder all the design work for a bit and see if I can handle 6 days a week.

When I had a second designer in the store, she was costing me MORE then my rent! ONLY my monthly flower bill was higher then her monthly wage!