COVID19 Has Reinvented Retailing. Are YOU Ready for What's Next?

I have always been as optimistic as anyone until COVID19 shut down - or tried to shut down - our industry. Shops always had weddings and other summertime events to help get us through the slow times. But this terrible pandemic has wiped them all away - along with many shops who are already struggling to keep our doors open. The numbers of people testing positive for this virus are increasing again and the future is scary. I fear that the lock downs could be reinstated again or extended.

That’s why the time to act is NOW!

Right now, as our industry changes right before our very eyes, we have a choice. We must move along and continue to find our way, just as local florists have always done in the past.

Local Retail Florists need 3 things going into late summer and for the future:

#1 Up-to-date website and social media listings

Nearly every retail establishment in the country has been forced to alter and adjust their operating hours because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even large large retailers like Walmart who used to be open 24 hours a day have scaled back and how have opening and closing times that often vary by store or location.

Even stores that have reopened completely are often forced to make adjustments based on staff availability or local restrictions.

The best way to keep customers updated on your current operating hours is by adjusting them on three places:

• Your website

• Google

• Facebook

Once you have updated those three platforms, your correct information should begin appearing in most places people use to search online. In some cases it may take up to 24 hours for the changes to take place across the platforms. If you need any assistance with adjusting your store or delivery hours, please click here and let us know so we can keep you up to date.



#2 Google Ads

Gone will be the shops sitting back waiting for orders to fill them. They are going to be the ones that will hang on by a thread, MAYBE. Most likely though, they will be gone. COVID19 is forcing the hand of the local retail florists to get aggressive and change the landscape of floral retailing by REMOVING wedding and special event options.

Here is a sample of what a shop did changing into the Google click model this past May in upstate New York area.

#3 Forever Remembered obituaries listings to "take back" and secure orders while improving your website SEO

This program is changing how people order funeral flowers online and will remain for years after COVID19 is gone. Over 10 years ago, LEGACY entered the funeral industry and posted obituary listings which created a link that sent the orders directly to the Sympathy Store. Today, they’re processed through FTD.

Today, Bloomerang Solutions is releasing custom local flower shop obituary/sympathy websites. Our network of websites across the country helps to create and link orders directly to your shop’s website! That’s right, we have removed the middle man!

• No Per Order Fees

• No Additional Membership Fees

• Every Order is Your Order

Haven't we all had enough? It’s time to start taking back our industry. If your area is not yet taken, you have a choice - please call me and we can get you started today! There has never been a more important time to plan for your shop’s future. Call me anytime (941) 313-8025.

What Happens When Your Website Goes Down?

How important is your website to your business? Have you thought about what will happen when you have an outage? Do you have a reliable backup plan that’s ready when you need it?

Just the other day, one of my websites unexpectedly went down when our host Gravity Free had a 4-hour outage in the middle of the work week. Now what? What would you do?

Throwing your hands up in frustration is usually the initial reaction, but it does nothing to fix the problem and leaves your customers in the dark about what’s happening. Are you closed? Have you moved...or worse, GONE OUT OF BUSINESS?

Instead, you need to have a plan in place for this exact scenario. Fortunately, the best solutions is an easy fix. It won’t bring your website back up - that’s likely out of your hands - but it will keep customers informed when they visit your site, instead of giving them a dead link.

Clicking on the image above will redirect you to a temporary site where you can keep customers updated on the status of your real site without missing a beat.

The Solution: Easy as 1-2-3

Simply follow these steps NOW before your next outage:

1. Create a simple web page on a different IP address. It will need to be hosted elsewhere and point your DNS from your website to the new one that acts as your temporary backup.

2. Design a simple and attractive page with your phone number along with a link to your Facebook page for clients to reach you. More people use a website lookup than a yellow page lookup to get your phone number. Google my Business and Bing Places link would also be helpful

3. Have a plan to post updates. You may have a wedding event that day and you could have lost your phones too. Just direct people to go to your Facebook page for real-time updates. With Google and Facebook, your customers can instant message you.

Everyone will have an outage at some point. You can’t control that, but you can be prepared when it happens. Scenarios like this are why it is advisable to always have a digital agency contracted to manage your digital presence. In this case, a backup solution should always be in place. At the end of the day, every business should have a plan.

-Art

Are you covered in case of an outage to your website? If not, Bloomerang Solutions can help! Give us a call at (941) 806-1911 or send us an email. We specialize in custom digital solutions and personalized online marketing. Let’s get started today!

New Customers from Mother's Day? Here's How to Keep Them Coming Back for More!

Did you know this past Mother’s Day that many florists got as much as 30% new business? Those are brand new customers who never shopped with them before!

Those are outstanding numbers, but now the challenge is turning them into regular returning customers. You have their contact information, so what are you doing with it? The answer is simple - send them a letter with a special offer they can use on their next order.

““Welcome and thank you for placing your Mother’s Day order with us! We don’t just want your order, we’d like to earn your trust.””

Then, simply give them a special offer and make sure they reference that offer or ask for a certain person at your business so you will now it came from that ad. This part is important because now you can track the results of the mailing. Simply do that and watch more orders come your way.

Grow your business with the new customers that ordered from you. Why? Because your competition is closed so this is your opportunity!

This is also a great time to take a look at surveys. You already have their email address and we have a survey program and we can do this for you. It could not be easier and it’s one of the best methods I’ve ever seen for finding out how customers see your business.

With the current uncertainty surrounding the economy and with restrictions limiting gatherings like weddings and parties, there are not many ways for you to get new business right now - but this is one way that is almost foolproof.

Preferred Customer Cards

Sending new customers a letter like we discussed above is a fantastic way to get a 2nd order, but if you’d like, you can take it a step further the same way we did at Beneva Flowers. Every new customer was sent a “preferred” customer card that they could use any time they placed an order. They didn’t need to sign up for any kind of special program, they were just automatically granted “preferred” status after the first order. The cards were no more expensive to send out than the letter itself but it let the customers know that you valued their business and hoped to form a long-time relationship. Here’s what the letter looked like:

It is really easy and I’m happy to help you with it. Bloomerang is on your side! Drop us a line below or call us anytime at (941) 806-1911. We look forward to making your business bloom!

Support Those Who Are Helping US

It's a tough time to see a transaction come through and before somebody makes one, they want to be sure they're getting maximum value. What does that mean? Giving back to your local community. Here are some ways you can accomplish that and give customers value in return for their continued business.

Are you giving back to your local area and the businesses that support you? Businesses have changed dramatically over the past three months. In fact, we’re all changing how we do business, from restaurants and caterers to event planners and everyone in between. But as we look to the future and think about how to make adjustments to be able to accommodate the sales that are out there, we need to think about how we can better our community and support those that are supporting us. 

Consider reaching out to local organizations and non-profits such as Little League and local Boys and Girls Clubs or even churches and other clubs. They’re likely struggling too right now but they do have large databases of members. One simple idea is to send out an email with an extra 10% offer you’re making for your business AND a 5% contribution to that organization every time a member orders from you. 

I used to have a similar program called Helping Hands in the floral industry. It was extremely popular and very well received locally. This is where we need to go - we’ve got to think about giving back. Because as much as we need business, so does everyone else. If we can give back to those who need us, then everyone wins together. 

If you need some help finding ways to give back to your community, Bloomerang Solutions is here to help! Give us a call at (941) 806-1911 or drop us a line below for some ideas on how you can give back. We look forward to hearing from you!

Taking Back Our Sympathy Orders From Legacy.Com

I’m usually Mr. Optimistic when it comes to the floral industry but quite honestly, I don’t know where the sales are going to come from for the next several months - other than birthdays, anniversaries, and unfortunately, funerals and sympathy.

However, a lot of that business has been taken by a company called Legacy - who has partnered with the Sympathy Store (which is owned by FTD). It works like this: most online obituaries also include a link that allows you to purchase flowers and other gifts with the click of a button.

It’s incredibly convenient for the person viewing the obituary but it comes at the expense of the local florist. Once the customer clicks on the link and chooses the flowers they wish to send, Legacy takes commissions out of the order and sends it on to a local florist to fulfill. The local florist has little choice but to fill the order, but by doing so, they’re losing out on a percentage of the sale. 

I hate to say it, but going forward, there’s going to be a retraction in our industry. Those who are looking ahead and are thinking about ways to better their business are going to survive and they’re going to have a different business model when this is all over.

On the other hand, those with a ‘woe-is-me’ attitude who are content with sitting back and letting other people do all the work are going to be in trouble because their days are numbered. So, it’s up to you to decide which type of business owner you choose to be. 

Our industry of florists needs to be proactive if we expect to survive and that means looking for new ways of operating. There are too many ‘middlemen’ and order gatherers out there making it easy to order flowers, but they’re also taking our profits because we’re letting them do the work we could be doing on our own. 

One of the ways we can start is by breaking into the Legacy business. We need to get that “send flowers” button on obituaries to go to the local florist and not national corporations. They’ve never had anyone challenge them and they’re all over the country. It won’t be an easy fight, but it can be done by starting with just one florist in every market in the country and getting the funeral orders back to the local florist where they belong.

We need to pull together and support those who are supporting the floral industry. Bloomerang Solutions can help you do that and more. Give us a call today at (941) 806-1911 or drop us a note below. We can start today!