Optional thoughts on keeping good sender business without WS and OG.

RWK

One thing I have found from my internet use is how many people speak English.

I visit on the internet with people in Greece, Italy, Russia, Germany, Malta, Africa and S. Africa, Ghana, Australia, New Zealand etc.

You can check out florist sites in foreign countries easy enough. Just use Google Local search - flowers Aukland New Zealand, Flowers New South Wales, Flowers Venice Italy etc.

Google is building the local business thing internationally. It won't be long until it is fully networked.

One thing you can do, if you can't find a florist for the precise town you are sending you can pick a close larger town. Then look for flowers and chances are you will find English speaking florist. You might be able to get a referral to a florist in the town you are sending that does speak English.

Yeah, I know sounds like a lot of trouble. It may or may not be, but it's also a good way to make new friends.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...MQBSgA&q=flowers+auckland+new+zealand&spell=1

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=flowers+accra+ghana&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&oq=

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=flowers+rhodes+greece&aq=f&aqi=&oq=

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=flowers+hong+kong&aq=f&aqi=g1g-m9&oq=

Pretty awesome how small the world is becoming...
 
Which is all very true - I'd rather not use a wire service.......as you point out, there are alternatives available. I've worked in shops that sent overseas HEAVILY ( averaged about 20 a month ) and at shops that may have had 2 or 3 per year.

So, Language barrier aside, there is one remaining problem/hurdle that appears to be covered by the wire services......currency values and exchanges.

Last time I looked, I think FTD's exchange rate was based on the Euro.........It used to be the Swiss Franc.
Teleflora and Bloomnet/Bloomlink - I have no idea on what currencies they base their international rates on.

just to give a few examples - Dollar to Euro conversion - the dollar is only worth about 74/75 cents in euros
Dollar to Japanese yen - 1 dollar equals about 89 yen
Dollar to Russian Rouble - 1 dollar equals about 30 roubles
 
  • Like
Reactions: domineaux
I'll have to go with BOSS on this one and say let the wiring die.

We can't have our cake and eat it too. Go local in our town, but when you want to send out of town use me? Go local world wide isn't all that difficult any more.

We had hundreds of customers this week, and a mere 2 wire requests. One was an incredible pain in the butt and the other one was a guy that wanted to send to Germany. I explained that his best bet was to Google a shop and explained why we don't have a wire service and why he is better off that way in the long run. He said he just didn't think of it. I believe he is becoming the minority considering the WS numbers I have heard from several sources for Valentine's Day.

Added to that, the negative press that almost all the wires get during the holidays is becoming the norm and I believe is driving some of the increased internet business that I have heard from several sources as well. People who want to go talk to a florist to send their orders are almost as comfortable calling you directly to send their order.

I haven't done it yet, but I still plan to install a computer in our store for customer use so that they can Google a shop themselves and promote the heck out of it at some point. It may tie in with some new technology I hear is coming very soon!

There is no need for the "broken model" any more. IMO. If everyone in the flower business latched onto the idea of Purely Local, we would be far better off. If you always get 100%, you don't need to do any sending where you get 30%. Get me?

Just look at the internet usage stats for the past 10 years.

Some other trends, while this is from 2007 points to the ever increasing use of CCards on the internet and the amount of internet orders shooting up significantly year over year.

More Canadians used the Internet to purchase goods and services in 2007, placing almost $12.8 billion worth of orders, up 61% from 2005.
This increase was driven by a larger volume of orders, which rose from 49.4 million in 2005 to 69.9 million in 2007. The proportion of orders placed with Canadian vendors declined slightly from 57% of the total in 2005 to 52% in 2007.
More than 8.4 million Canadians aged 16 and over made an online purchase in 2007, up from nearly 6.9 million in 2005. They accounted for 32% of Canadians in this age group, compared with 28% in 2005.
Not all online consumers participated equally. The top 25% of "online consumers," who spent an average of $5,000 during 2007, were responsible for 46% of orders and 78% of the total dollar value.
Internet shoppers were also more likely to pay directly online. About 82% paid directly online for some or all of their purchases, up from 75% in 2005.
Even so, 77% of these online consumers expressed concern about online credit card use.
Click to expand...
While this data is from 2007 you know the numbers are even higher now than ever and will continue to grow.

The reason this is impacting the big boys and the reason it's impacting us?

I feel that consumers are becoming more and more comfortable with using their cards online with sources other than national brands. Brand recognition on the internet has been the sticking point for many online users due to security issues. People are becoming more and more comfortable with using their cards online, and are willing to use their cards with an unrecognized brand, like you or me.

So... While these issues have been the bane of the florists existence, things are now turning in our favor. Not that we did anything, it's just what is happening naturally with the growth of the internet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Taylors_Flowers, mikec, domineaux and 4 others
  • Like
Reactions: domineaux and anytimeflowers
This has always been the point of contention in florists vs WS discussions:

Either you think shopping local, direct is better for consumers and the full-service florist industry than using an OG/WS

or

You think every local order should flow through your shop so you get a piece of it. Rebates distort the thinking even further.

(I concede for corporate orders, the need to be able to send out-of-town is clearly there.)

We all know the selling method (show a picture and pray somebody has the stuff in stock) and margins (getting worse every year) on filling most incomings are poor so everyone wants to send and few want to fill (based on the current system.)

In a perfect world, OGs would sell what we have in stock at prices (including delivery) we mutually agree to be acceptable. Right now OGs (and other florists) sell and then tell us what we have to make at their prices. And it's not working.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikec, duanermb, domineaux and 1 other person
Cathy... you just outlined the very reasons not to fill ;)

Kind of hard to send, if there is no one willing to fill. Sadly too many florists are still hooked on WS CRACK and willing to prostitute themselves to the order pimps and pushers.

Boggles the mind.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Taylors_Flowers, anytimeflowers and domineaux
BOSS said:
Cathy... you just outlined the very reasons not to fill ;)

Kind of hard to send, if there is no one willing to fill. Sadly too many florists are still hooked on WS CRACK and willing to prostitute themselves to the order pimps and pushers.

Boggles the mind.
Click to expand...

This industry has alot of Ostrich... the kind that stick their head in the sand, waiting out the storm.

Then there is the kind that stick their head in a bucket...
 

Attachments

  • Ostrich-HeadinBucket.jpg
    Ostrich-HeadinBucket.jpg
    38.8 KB · Views: 8
domineaux said:
This industry has alot of Ostrich... the kind that stick their head in the sand, waiting out the storm.

Then there is the kind that stick their head in a bucket...
Click to expand...
And a few who go face first into the storm~!
 
BOSS said:
Sadly too many florists are still hooked on WS CRACK and willing to prostitute themselves to the order pimps and pushers.
Click to expand...
Mark, I really don't see it that way.

Some very large operations continue to successfully fill - but the economy of scale by filling multiples of the same arrangements they're already selling in their stores enables them to buy larger quantities and lower overall COGs. I do believe there's a 'sweet spot' for some of them where it does seem to work.

The analogy above strikes me as oversimplified and overstated.

I agree those operations are few and far between compared to the typical stores that get orders dripping in for things they don't usually sell to their local customers. In most cases, the shops are filling because their own local orders are drying up.

Phil just got a call from a broker who's offering a shop that 's grossing $125K and 3/4 of it is in wire-ins. They're asking $50K and Phil basically told him there really was nothing to sell. (The broker also said the shop claims to net $60K/year and we both wondered which turnip truck he thought we fell off of.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: theRKF, duanermb, mikec and 2 others
CHR said:
Mark, I really don't see it that way.

Some very large operations continue to successfully fill - but the economy of scale by filling multiples of the same arrangements they're already selling in their stores enables them to buy larger quantities and lower overall COGs. I do believe there's a 'sweet spot' for some of them where it does seem to work.
Click to expand...
Agree'd Cathy, but what number do you guess that would be, maybe 50-100 shops across the country? I concur, filling *can/could* be profitable if you're set up that way, but honestly it only works in the top 50 markets perhaps where the "sweet spot" can be maneuvered about.

A smaller local florist that can not afford to stock Hydrangia for instance (a common stock item for me and you) would go broke trying to buy every item to fill an order, based on the left overs that would be generated. To fill successfully you have to have local volume to burn through items purchased to fill discounted work. In *many/most* cases, I would bet it would be more cost effective to skip the incoming orders.
 
The principal problem with WS orders is this ---->

The WS make their money off the local fill florists. The WS fees that are in addition to direct commissions are exorbitant.

Instead of being a simple faciliator of orders between send and fill florists they have become gluttonous self serving entities.

There is a symbiotic relationship between the parasites (OG) and the host organisms (WS).

The WS have to have all the orders they can acquire to pump out to their local fill florists. The WS wouldn't exist very long, if the fill florists were doing their math and counting their losses.

Yet, the effect of pumping ordrs to the fill florists is perpetuating the parasitic relationship.

So, I say we need to de-tox. LOL

Yet, if you've ever done a de-tox---- it's not something you want to hastily take on. Yuk!
 
  • Like
Reactions: anytimeflowers
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back