News Update
iflorist
TM
May 2008
On The Move
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o say that we were bursting at the seams would have been a real under-statement! In order to be able to expand our florist relations, web design and marketing departments, we desperately needed to move into larger premises... and that’s exactly what we’ve done. In addition to our accounts department moving closer to the centre of London, April also saw the relocation of iflorist HQ to much larger, brand new offices in a beautiful part of rural Lancashire, while maintaining a location just 20 miles from Manchester.
Our new HQ will enable iflorist and Colonial Gifts to expand operations and support our ever growing network of over 1,400 florists accross the country. Our new address is: iflorist HQ Jupiter House 1003 Mercury Rise Altham Business Park Altham Lancashire BB5 5YE
Our new local rate telephone number is: 01282 77 91 98
£100,000 Investment in Ecommerce With Valentines and Mothers Day over, and the move to our new offices complete, we have now started to carry out the final tests on our new website and ecommerce order system, which is due to be launched in June 08. As many of you will know from speaking to the iflorist team recently, the new system will enable orders to be accepted in four languages and 3 currencies, and will
further expand our international presence. Our team of software developers in India and the U.K have been working hard over the last six months to ensure we have a trading platform which will be the envy of our competitors.
system and an online design guide.
The Connect system - already used by many of our florists - will be massively upgraded and will undoubtedly make it easier for florists to communicate with the entire team at iflorist. The new system will also feature an expanded customer services
You will more than likely have had a call recently to confirm you details, from your VAT number and delivery radius, to who you’d like your cheques made payable to. This is a step we’ve taken to ensure that not only do you receive the maximum
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We don’t do things by halves at iflorist!
iflorist's state of the art new offices based in the heart of Lancashire
we have a trading platform which will be the envy of our competitors
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possible number of orders, but also to make integrating with our new systems as simple, quick and easy as possible. If we’ve got your correct details on file, it’s likely that you won’t be required to lift a finger to benefit from - and start receiving orders via - the new iflorist Connect system. If you have not already requested to use connect, simply log on to
www.iflorist.co.uk/start It's totally free!
New Faces To help with the growth and to give a UK personal touch we have now expanded our florist relations team to help deal with day to day queries and to assist our International contact centre in India. The improved systems and additional pairs of hands will help keep our florists up to date.
You are sure to receive a call over the next month or so, Emily & Amelia will be at hand to deal with any of your queries, and they can be contacted on: Telephone 01282 77 91 98 or via email at emily.taylor@iflorist.co.uk
Direct Debit
Expanded Operation in India
As you may be aware, in an effort to speed up the process of running your monthly statements and paying you for the orders you’ve executed.
Our contact centre in Noida (just outside New Delhi, India) has also been expanded recently in order to offer 24/7 multi-lingual ‘live chat’ operations for customers and florists.
We will be implementing Direct Debit and credit facilities from July. We will need to ensure that we have your correct, up-to-date bank details on file. We will be in touch over the coming few weeks to verify these details.
As a result, our international florist network has also been expanded at a phenomenal rate, with florists in over 140 countries now fulfilling our orders. Our expanded team will enable us to process orders 24/7 and allocate orders to florists accross the globe.
Amelia(left) & Emily(right)
A Big Thank You With over 1,400 florists throughout the UK, the iflorist network has seen a phenomenal rate of growth. With some 150,000 registered customers and over a million flowers sent, we owe a massive thank you to all our florists. We fully appreciate that our success would not be possible without all the hard work and effort carried out by our florists on a daily basis. With the investment in technology and UK operations, you can be confident that our focus is on investment in our network and developing good relations with all our florists.
Royal visit His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visits iflorists HQ
Taking a look back at the day Prince Charles popped in for a visit iflorist will never forget
Steven Harris & David Price with a typicallty fun natured Prince Charles
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T
he growing success of iflorist has even been noticed by the Royal Family, with Prince Charles recently paying a visit to iflorist HQ where the team played host for the Royal visit. As the fastest growing florist network in the UK, Prince Charles was enthralled by the electricity and enthusiasm of our web design and business development teams... or the fact that they are just a little crazy!
Prince Charles commented to staff that he could see that there was phenomenal growth within the online flower and online gift sector, and that iflorist and Colonial Gifts were ideally positioned to reap the benefits. He was also intrigued to see such a wide range flowers and gifts available online, including his own organic range of Duchy Original chocolates, hampers and gifts as well as a huge selection of fine wines from right across the globe. He went on to remark that he could see
Charles shares a joke with the iflorist team
the innovation and sheer dedication of all involved at iflorist, and that the company was a credit to the region. The visit was part of a tour of Burnley and Lancashire, which saw the Prince visiting the world famous Weavers Triangle, before enjoying a short trip on a canal barge to take in some beautiful local sights and scenery. Speaking of the visit, iflorist Managing Director David Price said, “It gave a real morale boost to the entire team. Talking to the Prince in a relaxed and friendly manner was real surprise - he was a pleasure to chat to and had a real sense of humour. James and Amelia certainly kept him amused!”
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The fastest growing floristry network in the UK
it gave a real moral boost to the entire team...
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Momentum Trilogy iflorist Gathering Momentum...
A look at the successful campaigns for the hit movies P.S I Love You & The Accidental Husband
Bouquets created in celebration of The Accidental Husband
Working in association with a high profile film company such as Momentum has provided iflorist with the opportunity to feature movie stars such as Uma Thurman and Hilary Swank in a bid to assist in the promotion and PR of movie-themed bouquets and gifts.
fantastic marketing message, and has been exclusively used in our press, email and web marketing campaigns to retail customers. The fantastic competition prizes and incentives to purchase from our range of florist delivered bouquets have proved to be a real winner.
Our customers have loved the promotions with over 10,000 registrations for the competitions to date and in excess of £50,000 worth of themed bouquets ordered in the first three months. The association gives a
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O
ur business development team have been busy working on marketing partnerships recently which, if you’ve been allocated a “Richard’s Romance” or “Patrick’s Passion” bouquet you may be well aware! Created to celebrate recent release of blockbuster movies including ‘PS I Love You’ and ‘The Accidental Husband’, the bouquets and related competitions have gone down a storm... so much so that iflorist have been selected by Momentum Pictures to feature in host of movie releases throughout 2008 and 2009.
The P.s I Love You bouqet, used in promotion of the movie.
The creation of movie themed bouquets, along with movie premier press packs and point of sale promotions have really helped all involved to embraced the campaigns, giving ourselves and our florists a great deal of marketing exposure over the past six months.
“Working with marketing partners helps to promote florist orders, and is definitely worth all the effort” said Emily Taylor, Florist Relations Manager at iflorist. With our growing network of over 1,400 florists we are constantly on the lookout for new marketing opportunities, and will be involved in several major up-and-coming cinema and DVD releases. This is certain to pay dividends and will provide fantastic opportunities for our florists with over 1,000 shops already having taken part in our movie release promotions to date.
10,000 customers registered for the competitions...
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