One Page Checkout is not a must on these days

We live in a rapidly growing society where we want the things to be as easy and quick as possible. In the earlier years (2002 – 2009),  it was seen that the One Page Checkout process was the most attractive system to get through the checkout online process. The Internet and World Wide Web was not that technologically advanced and the connection was too slow to sustain nicely a multiple page checkout process. The trend was to setup a system where every single detail was incorporated into just one page to get through the checkout process.

Gaining Popularity of Multiple Page Check Out

Today, web pages load faster than they did six years ago. Currently the web speeds standard and the loading time of the web pages have improved a lot. The Experts on the big ecommerce websites are thankful today to the internet speeds, they have created checkout systems which are more like a GPS which guides the customer step by step with the multiple checkout process and it is preferred rather than a One Page Checkout which was in the past a must feature on any other ecommerce site.

The multiple page checkout system is gaining popularity again with each passing day and most of the top 500 Fortune Companies are utilizing the multiple page checkout process in their daily transactions online, also focusing on the conversions through their web pages. The Multiple Page Checkout guides a customer through every step he takes, while making any purchase online or form fills ups for banks or insurance with detailed information. It acts like a GPS guiding a customer through the process, holding his hand so that he won’t have any problem in understanding the points to be filled in. It is always better to have multiple page checkouts than scrolling through the one page cluttered of fields to be filed that often makes it a lengthy and confusing process; multi page GPS step by step checkout process try to avoid customer filling processes a confusing one, making an easy task the checkout process.

The One Page Checkout process has been relegated by the well known multiple page checkout that is even simpler and the online form fill up or web pages are clearly understood and well implemented making the multiple page checkout process potentially lead to more conversions in the form of customers and traffic increase on a website which indirectly leads to more money. For instance, the Online TurboTax which has a multiple forms and fields works as a GPS, leading the customer step by step through all the process. The inquiries are made in plain English and his replies are put on the right tax documents. Then the only thing remains to do is the e-filing or the print of the tax return. It's that trouble-free and effortless. It is always simpler to complete four easier steps than completing one big, cluttered and confusing step.

There is no doubt that the one page check out was a great process in the early years but with the highly developed technologies and fast speed Internet connection, today, the multiple page checkout process have taken the center stage with all the leading high end companies taking up multiple step checkout to control all their transactions in rapid and simple steps. As a whole, to make the customer’s checkout process easier, potentially  including on each of the steps additional cross offers, tips, and features that reinforce trust that  on One Page Checkout could be difficult to do; it is always better to go with the multiple page checkout system.

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Florist Marketplace, yes or no?

Lately a new form of flower’s commercialization had been implemented; is akin to eBay or Etsy service does. This marketplace is supposed to be an internet platform that allows a local florist to upload his products, local zip codes of delivery coverage; setup his own prices, even, the florist can create a storefront on this market place. 

On the process, the customer arrives to this web marketplace; there he buys flowers that will be fulfilled by his chosen florist. The marketplace gain between 10% and 20% for administration, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and transaction fees on every order; the rest of the money goes to the fulfilling florist. This model is very good for the Filling Florist, but at the same time this service is comparable to an Order Gather (OG) service with the difference that the Filling Florist roll is very active here, rather filling florist profits are very attractive; but, on other hand, the clients that should go directly to the Filling Florist website are getting attracted to the Marketplace website.

Some of the percentage of the money made by the Marketplace in each transaction is designated to a Search Engine Optimization leaving the Filling Florist website hooked in some sort of disadvantage when a customer performs a search in any web search engine; so when a potential customer wants a floral arrangement from a  florist on the area, guess what?... the customer will end on the marketplace, the new middle man, The Florist Marketplace.

As time passes the website of the Florist will fade off from search engines or have to compete very hard against the marketplace trying the get relevant positions on the search results.

“When you feed your product descriptions to marketplaces you give them the ability to use that content. If your product feed contains the same descriptions that are on your site, the marketplace could receive primary credit, and search engines could label you as a copycat.”

In a long run the Florist will lose the branding benefit of selling to the customer directly; the florist website fades off in favor of a new middleman, called Marketplace.  The main advise for florist is to maximize revenue growth on the web store and develop a long-term strategy for it before making marketplace selling a priority; marketplace should be a secondary resource of revenue not the main one.

Many times  Order Gathers and freelancer floral designer join the marketplace services only using the incorporation information (or not at all), but not necessarily having a brick and mortar presence.

Winners:

• Anyone who is willing to make and sell flower arrangements. Easy setup, my high school neighbor can sell flowers from her parent’s garage.
• Order gathers, can gather order from market place.
• Supermarkets who sell flowers to anyone willing to make and sell flower arrangements.
• Market Place, who is the middleman who take profits on each transaction.

Losers:

Brick and mortar florist, who has to compete against order gathers, and freelancer designers like my neighbor aforementioned before. Also in the long run, they have to compete against market places on search results positions on Google. 

Direct2florist marketplace and Bloomnation marketplace are some examples of Florists marketplaces.

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Lack of Transparency from Florist Wire Services

In the recent times with the advanced technological developments, each one of you tries to reduce the effort needed to go out for buying various things. But when the florists try to search for the florist software online, they always acquire just blurred information. With the increasing number of occasions and events like wedding, birthdays, and other get together, throughout the year, the flowers are the most important part of the process. You can express all your emotions with flower and that’s the reason why florist business has taken an upswing market in the online course. The leaders in the florist wire services like Teleflora, FTD, and 1800 Flowers are believed to be vague in their transaction processes with the florists. Though they set a high standard with their high end software and appliances, it is assumed that these companies do not show their public prices, keeping the florists in an unclear state and making their purchase, a difficult one.

It is seen that the companies like Teleflora, FTD and 1800 Flowers believes in convincing customers of their value of the product in person and does not provide any pricing details online or over the phone and mail. Any florist who searches for florist software online as per their budget is sure to get annoyed with the hide and seek policy that these companies acquire. The price does make a matter of substance and no matter how attractive or great your product is, people wish to check out the prices before buying any range of goods online.

Lack of Transparency

The people are used to a particular way of shopping but with the wire services occupying a great space in the market, the florists prefer to acquire all the information from the websites and plan the software purchase according to their budget. The information that a wire service can provide is immense and the people expect clarity in every way. Not only do the product information but the price and other details regarding the offer must be published in open. But the prices offered by these big companies differ in every place depending on the commission that the local vendors are looking for, their readiness to compensate or depending on their requirement and so on. For instance, in a small town like New Mexico the system cost reaches hardly $4500, but in a city like Miami the cost soars higher up to $8000.

It is very important that the commercial wire services reach out to the small towns equally as in the big cities and viceversa. If not, then the big companies like Teleflora, FTD and many more can easily quote their prices the way they want.  The POS software helps the giant florists to set different prices for various customers and suppress the pricing details as per the customers’ budget or their willingness to pay and makes it really easy for these leaders in the business to cheat the florists. These companies have a different pricing policy based on several variables. There is no transparency in their dealings and even in the same cities they offer different price to different florists as per their budget and size. Like for example, they can charge $7000 to a specific florist meanwhile charge $9000 to another florist in the same city.

Comparison

The customer is always in search for a clean transaction where he gets to know the right price upfront and the best deals available for him. He would, without any doubt; feel cheated if someone charges higher based on his location and situation. Definitely he would conclude as taking advantage of the situation. For instance, in the case of cars too, the marketer wants to get the customer in his showroom through publishing the price of base model which is either not available or is so much stripped down that customer would settle for higher model and pay more for it.

The car is mostly a onetime high ticket size purchase for the customer who would like to get into details of the features and accessories before settling for final price.   But POS software is a requirement for the entire year as the people keep buying flowers from these florists and would obviously expect transparency in all respects in regard to their purchase from them. Therefore, the price should be clearly mentioned without any hidden agenda.

Thus, it is very much predictable that the leaders like Teleflora, FTD or 1800 Flower’s prices are higher than the competitive market price and so they do not entertain customers over phone or mail and neither do they display a clear price on their websites. Or else their prices are too low to display on the portal, which gives an unprofessional vibe screaming “my service is not worth much!!” However, it is always the crisp and particular information that the websites provide about their requirement which the customers get attracted to. So transparency is the only way that can attract customers and hold on to them for a future long business relationship.

Millions may have been added to florist establishments profits.

According to some numbers derived from financials informs, interpolations and market share of Wire Service Companies;  the revenue from Wire Service Operations and Transactions were around 550 millions on 2012,  meaning that 15.304 florist establishments did not earn 550 millions.

What happened if  florists could made transactions directly among then, no third party involved?

The answer is easy; 550 millions could be distributed among florist.

Using some statistical techniques that involve Bayesian distribution, Pareto etc we have some interesting results:

On 6120 florist establishments, $9.069 may have been added to their profits results.

On 4590 florist establishments, $24.185 may have been added to their profits results.

On 3060 florist establishments, $54.416 may have been added to their profits results.

On 1530 florist establishments, $145.108 may have been added to their profits results.

For a total of 550 millions distributed among 15.304 florist establishments.

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Wake up Florists!

The following are some numbers and graphs that should let us wonder…. What happened?

Some of the big wire services are listed on the stock market, in the same token is mandatory for them to open all their financial information to the public and shareholders.  United who is listed on NASDAQ, is owner of FTD; all the financial information is public.  

In this case some of the charts are  developed from  1800FLOWERS financial information.

Here the trend is positive, which shows an improving revenue year after year.

Revenue from wire services are growing year after year, is a positive trend.

The number of florist establishments is declining year after year, a lot of florist stores are closing each year, and the number of new florist stores is very insignificant.

The florist industry market is doing pretty well, since 2009 the trend has been positive. A lot of money is in this market

Now, some fast facts:

1. The number of  florist establishment has been declining year after year.
2. The Floral Industry Market Size has been growing since 2009 after the glitch produced by the recession on 2008.
3. The revenue of BloomNet wire services has been growing year after year. Meaning that florists are creating more profits and income for wire services such as, BloomNet, FTD, Teleflora.

Questions

Why is a decline on the number of florist establishments?

Some people says, that is because florists are getting older and are retiring from business.

Others say that is because florist chains are closing branches to focus on the profitable ones. Another  reason drawn, is that young people do not want to be florist, and this is the reason why the number of new florist shops is so low.

The economists said that the main reason is because being a florist is not very profitable anymore, is better be an Order Gather than a florist, also they say that Wire Services are making more and more money thanks to the work of florists; Meanwhile, florists are not making all the money that is supposed to make.

Many florist shops are closing due to lack of profits which in the long turn lead to bankrupt.

Some say that the real reason is a mix of all the aforementioned reasons.

If there is more money in the market, why more florist establishments are closing?

How the Wire Services Companies are making more and more money each year from florists?

How  the Wire Services Companies  are making more money with less and less florist establishments?

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1*    1800FLOWERS.COM, INC. Annual report, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.

2*    1800FLOWERS.COM, INC. Annual report, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.

3*   County Business Patterns, Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Released 2013.

4*   US Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal consumption Expenditures by Type of Product, January 31, 2013 Revision 


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Young People do not want to be a Florist

Young People do not want to be a Florist

After a lot of conversations with young people, who are currently on their last year of high school or enrolled on college, we believe that there are some important points to share today.

The excitement in a career of florist seems to have faded. If one asks about his potential preferred job, hardly any young guy will name florist as his first choice; even, the next potential generation of florists who are supposed to relieve their florist parents are opting for other career alternatives; they are not seeing big profits in the business. The opinion is partly created because big wire services like Teleflora, FTD or 1800Flowers are the big tycoon who marks a very high price and fees for the floral software, hardware and services that is supposed to help florist to obtain a formidable profits; but the true is that florist are perceived as a mere employees and very dependent of wire services companies. These biggies gather most of the orders and the florists just fulfill those orders. The big wire services and technology providers like Teleflora, FTD and many more provides expensive software and services that becomes a hindrance for the young guys who think of venturing into a florist business as they lack the capital to give competition to the leaders.

The florist business does not remain all the same like it was earlier, now profits are declining;  meanwhile the big investment on the high end software and florist appliances like refrigerator etc, are big enough for the starters to create a niche for themselves in comparison to any other business or profession. Moreover, it is obvious that the youth of today does not want to participate as they see, every florist using the same products with very similar advertising strategies and even related and easily comparable websites like any Mac Donald’s Franchisee but it is the high prices in software, wiring fees and unbalanced profit sharing, that have been set by the leading Wire Order Companies that makes the young people think more than once before initiating a business. This is a big entry barrier for young entrepreneurs.

Interference of the South Asian Countries

While thinking of venturing into any business, a proper planning is very important and a genuine mindset and purpose for getting into it. But with the interference of Order Gathers from the South Asian Countries like India Pakistan and Bangladesh, the florist business hardly has any scope for the new comers. The overseas guys who seem to be “very smart” just set up a website at a low cost and get all the orders across the globe and let alone the local florist do the hard work at a nominal price, everything with the  Wire Order Companies complicity. In this way, the so called smart guys reap in the commission benefit at a huge margin. In the florist sector, the Order Gathers are in huge and increasing numbers who affect the florist business very badly by killing the entire florist market and reducing the value of the florist endeavor

Occasions affecting the Florists

The work of a florist involves several aspects and in depth understanding of the customer’s need. There are many intricate details in making of a flower arrangement. Many different types of materials are used which include green or dried flowers, silk etc.  Floristry is an art and a creative profession. Besides the flower arrangement, a florist has to understand the occasion like wedding, funeral, and birthday and so on.  He should have an understanding of mother’s day, teacher’s day, and Thanksgiving Day, et al. The most important skill of a florist is his ability to assist people in expressing their feelings through proper selection and flower arrangements.

But it is very often seen that with the increasing number of occasions every now and then throughout the year, the event planners are doing great business instead of the florists. Every other occasion requires flowers which are an important part of the occasion but the people are more interested to hire the event planners to set up the entire event rather than appointing the florists for the work. Thus, these florists “again” have ended up being just mere employees appointed by event planners; a lot of times event planners trying to avoid florist costs,  buy the flowers directly from wholesalers or simply they go to  the local supermarket to serve the purpose of flower arrangement required in the event and keep the florist totally out of the process. The florists hardly get their due respect that they deserve with the event planners coming in between and making the florist, a third party.

To retain the youth in the florist business and give them a boost for being one, it is very important to eradicate the negativity of the business. With the use of advanced technologies and tools, new ideas should be implemented so that the customers can conveniently buy flowers as per their requirements through sophisticated and easy to browse web pages, Facebook stores, mobile commerce and so on and never let the order gathers let down the value of the business through their cheap earning techniques. The elimination of the order gathers can show better profit margins.

Therefore, if the young entrepreneurs have to set up their florist business it is very important to get technological software features and services at the best and affordable rates with better system for direct negotiation like Direct Florist to Florist Transactions. The eradication of the order gathers is also very vital; if a florist wants to obtain better profits, the idea here is that a client buys directly to a local florist, meaning no third parties involved. It is also required to make better differentiated websites with handy web-tools for all the florists to uplift the florist sector in a better way and bring in the positivity of the business back in place with new generations adding their flavor to florist business.

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Florist Business Methods, THE TRUE. Part 3

Continuing the last post Florist Business Methods, THE TRUE. Part2; today we will see the remaining Florist Business Methods which have been used in order to send flowers to another part of the nation:

F. Direct Shipping. 

G. Direct Florist to Florist.

H. Direct order.

I. Marketplace.

Note: we are going to assume that the Originating Florist (OF) is located in Charlotte, NC; the Filling Florists (FF) is located in LA, CA, and the usual Order Gather (OG) additional fees of $9 - $15 are not charged.

F. Direct Shipping.

The OG or Wire Service Order Gather service sends overnight boxed flowers to the receiver, using for this purpose courier services like FedEx, UPS and DHL among others. The flowers come directly from their flower storage and logistics facilities; this is called “Direct-Shipping”. This process is far more lucrative for the OGs and at the same time vastly more intrusive on the retail community as it completely cuts the florists out of the operation. 

With Direct Shipping the flower shipper get all the money paid by the customer, and the receiver obtains an arrangement evaluated on $60 to $90 from the original payment of $100; all depends if the box of flowers does not have any delays in their transit, logistic problems, refrigeration shipping issues etc. Also the receiver has to deal or create an arrangement by himself with these boxed flowers but, not always the receiver is willing to deal with that.

Local Originating Florist (OG) and Filling Florists (FF) are eliminated here, meaning neither no profits nor sales for them.

G. Direct Florist to Florist.

Customers buy from his local florist he pays $100; the local Originating Florist (OF) get between $18 to $22, he uses phone calls or fax in order to place the order with the filling florist. The filling florist after subtracting delivery cost and financial fees gets $71 to $77; at the end the receiver obtains an arrangement evaluated on $71 to $77 from the original payment of $100. In this way the florists can get better profits due to the elimination of the middle men known as order gathers and/or wire services.

This model is one of the best for the filling florist, 22% profits, and the best one for the originating florist in terms of profits, 77%, but exist the cumbersome process for the Originating Florist (OF) to find the correct filling florist, deal with the florist, setup the payment method, value etc. this process can not be so easy because is not a standard method and each florist (originating and filling) can have different politics and techniques to process and accept orders, setup prices, delivery charges etc. 

H. Direct order.

The customer contacts directly the filling florist, by far this is the best one of the models, the customer receive all or most of the promised value of his order, and by the same token the filling florist get the maximum profit because he does not have to split it with OG, the Originating Florist (OF) and the wire services and all the cost associated with them. 

Many times the customer goes to his local florist in order to allow them to handle his order. On the other hand, most of the customers seek for local filling florist on yellow pages and/or web search engines when they want to send flowers to another area; but, here is a drawback, customers after seek using yellow pages or/and web search engines and without the knowledge about how to disguise Wire Services Order Gather and Order Gathers from real brick and mortar filling florist; frequently, their orders finish on the system of Wire Service Order Gathers, Order Gathers, and maybe but not frequent in marketplaces.

I. Marketplace.

Lately a new form of flower’s commercialization had been implemented; is akin to eBay service does. This marketplace is an internet platform that allows a local florist to upload his products, local zip codes of delivery coverage; setup his own prices, even, the florist can create a storefront on this market place.

On the process, the customer arrives to this web marketplace; there he buys flowers that will be fulfilled by his chosen florist. The marketplace gain between 10% and 20% for administration, SEO (search engine optimization) and transaction fees on every order and the rest of the money goes to the fulfilling florist. This model is very good for the filling florist, but at the same time this service is comparable to an Order Gather service with the difference that the filling florist roll is very active here, rather filling florist profits are very attractive; but, on other hand, the clients that should go directly to the filling florist website are getting attracted to the marketplace website. Some of the percentage of money made by the marketplace in each transaction is designated to a search engine optimization leaving the filling local florist website hooked in some sort of disadvantage when a customer performs a search in any web search engine; as time passes the website of the florist will fade off from search engines or have to compete very hard against the marketplace trying the get relevant positions on the search results. Many times the OG joins this services only using the incorporation information, but not necessarily having a brick and mortar presence.

More info about some negative facts about marketplaces. 

As aforementioned before, it is understood that the most profitable system for local filing florist is H. Direct order. By the same token, the most profitable system for local Originating Florist (OF) and local filing florist together, is G. Direct Florist to Florist.

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