CNN Small Business fields a nice question from a Georgia-based florist on how to be profitable in a down economy. The CNN witer highlights how far behind retail florists are with technology compared with other retailers:

“It is imperative you become technically savvy,” says Riewe, adding that most flower shops, compared to other retailers, are lagging by five or six years. He suggests using point-of-sale software to collect information from those who send and receive your flowers. Using the data he collects, Riewe sends out “preferred customer” cards, which offer an opportunity to earn reward points and be notified by e-mail of special offers.

There are some other good, non-technology tips that we all probably know but it’s good to remember:

1. Keep track of what’s in every order, make sure you’re not “overstuffing”

2. Contests to get people in the store

3. With flowers, it’s better to under-order than over order

Click here to see the CNN article.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 12:09 am and is filed under Ecommerce, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.