Self-Populating Directories

Nov 22, 2009
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West Saint Paul
any-timeflowers.com
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Minnesota
I am wondering if there is a concrete5 plug-in for this.

I would like my order form to have a link to funeral homes and hospitals directories such as FSN has. It is a wonderful tool, and would make the shopping experience MUCH easier for consumers.
 
Not sure about a link in the checkout but I do have a list of homes and links to them on my site. I see lots of people click on that so not sure if they are getting address info or checking to see if I deliver there.
 
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I am wondering if there is a concrete5 plug-in for this.

I would like my order form to have a link to funeral homes and hospitals directories such as FSN has. It is a wonderful tool, and would make the shopping experience MUCH easier for consumers.

Are you talking about having a selection of pre-populated delivery addresses?

Ex: On the shipping page clients could either enter a shipping address OR choose from a selection of local facilities?
 
Are you talking about having a selection of pre-populated delivery addresses?

Ex: On the shipping page clients could either enter a shipping address OR choose from a selection of local facilities?

Exactly your example. For my order entry on FSN, I can click on "Choose A Funeral Home" or "Choose A Hospital" and then go through the directory to find the one I need. When I go to the one I want, I can choose it and it self populates the address info.

I would like to do that for my customers, the easier it is to order, the more likely people are to follow through on an order.
 
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Not sure about a link in the checkout but I do have a list of homes and links to them on my site. I see lots of people click on that so not sure if they are getting address info or checking to see if I deliver there.

Lori, I'm working on that part right now, I think it's a great idea. I am not including links to any of the funeral homes that have FTD on their website though.
 
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Exactly your example. For my order entry on FSN, I can click on "Choose A Funeral Home" or "Choose A Hospital" and then go through the directory to find the one I need. When I go to the one I want, I can choose it and it self populates the address info.

I would like to do that for my customers, the easier it is to order, the more likely people are to follow through on an order.

That's a solid idea.

Would you prefer (all users chime in!) a generic directory of all US funeral homes, or a list of addresses that you can create and manage unique to your shop?
 
That's a solid idea.

Would you prefer (all users chime in!) a generic directory of all US funeral homes, or a list of addresses that you can create and manage unique to your shop?

I actually prefer to create my own. I understand it will be a lot of work but I think it will look better to somebody from a different state if I'm only showing them local results. I don't like it when I'm on some local site and all of the sudden I get taken to a map of North America.

I also "think" that in terms of search results this would be better as google continues moving to localized searches. Could be wrong on that, it happens......
 
I actually prefer to create my own. I understand it will be a lot of work but I think it will look better to somebody from a different state if I'm only showing them local results. I don't like it when I'm on some local site and all of the sudden I get taken to a map of North America.

I also "think" that in terms of search results this would be better as google continues moving to localized searches. Could be wrong on that, it happens......

It wouldn't really impact SEO, but it could be a very useful tool. We'll see about adding this in the near future.
 
At first, I was thinking a list we generated. However, it would be nice to have a "generic" list. If our local customers are trying to order for a funeral out of the area, it would be great to accommodate this as well.
 
Jesse, I had somebody try to place an order for Boston and then call because my website would not allow him to place it, telling him that it was out of our delivery area. Do you have your site open to orders for out of your area?

I suppose it wouldn't be such a problem for somebody with POS and a wire service, for me, I don't want to deal with it.
 
I would love to be able to do this for funeral homes, hospitals, and even some of our big businesses that we deliver to on a regular basis. Oh nursing homes too! That would be awesome Ryan! I would also like to populate my own list. I don't mind the extra work. :)
 
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I don't get it....Why would you want your store's website to be enabled for someone to send to another state or town when they could easily look online for someone in that area? I don't think I would want that as it defeats the dollars coming into the shop.
 
I don't get it....Why would you want your store's website to be enabled for someone to send to another state or town when they could easily look online for someone in that area? I don't think I would want that as it defeats the dollars coming into the shop.
I don't understand what you are trying to say?
 
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I don't get it....Why would you want your store's website to be enabled for someone to send to another state or town when they could easily look online for someone in that area? I don't think I would want that as it defeats the dollars coming into the shop.

Very simply, Ricky, I want my customers who order loyally from my web site to know that any flower need they should just come to me and not worry about the rest. (some here may disagree, that's ok)

There is a difference betweeen:
a) marketing for out of town orders
b) marketing deceptively for out of town orders
c) offering the ability for regular local customers to send out of town

Lots of florists want to at least offer "c" as a way of increasing / maintaining customer loyalty.
 
I don't get it....Why would you want your store's website to be enabled for someone to send to another state or town when they could easily look online for someone in that area? I don't think I would want that as it defeats the dollars coming into the shop.

Rick, this would not defeat the dollars coming into the shop, this would bring MORE in, it's what order-gatherers do.

Like Ryan said, if it's a local customer wanting to send flowers to a funeral or hospital out of town, they can easily do that through my website and I would get a commission off of that when I send it on as a wire-out. (If I wanted to do that, which I'm not entirely sure I want to, too many things can still go wrong)