Online Florist grows successful mail order business using Options supply chain system
Online Florist grows successful mail order business using Options supply chain system
Post-a-Rose, the online florist company based in the Isle of Man, has selected Options supply chain system for its back-office system.
The Options solution is used for order and customer management as well as for marketing and loyalty programmes. Over recent years the company has expanded its portfolio to include other varieties of cut flowers, indoor plants and luxury Isle of Man Hampers. Post-a-Rose uses Options to manage seasonal peak times in the business – Christmas, Valentine’s and Mother’s day – as well as boost business during the quieter times of the year with the marketing functionality.
System scales with business
Mark Hotchkiss, managing director at Post-a-Rose.com, said: “We initially wanted a solution that could be used for a small number of users, but could accommodate more in the future.”
Post-a-Rose has also recently merged with a large local wholesaler of fruit and vegetables that has 180 employees and stocks over 5,000 product lines. Hotchkiss is confident that Options will be easily able to accommodate both the growth in product lines and number of users.
“The web interface package imports data straight into Options, which means that we can track and process all orders centrally. We have seen a huge improvement in the efficiency of order processing, not just from telephone orders but also from the web interface. We now have the potential to introduce new product ranges and Options will be essential to support this growth. It has been a very robust system that has helped to support our business over the years without us having to upgrade.”
Multichannel functionality
Orders are captured on the software's database, which also holds product definitions, pricing, promotion and discount programmes, purchasing and all financial and marketing strategies. The company is able to change and view the data to reflect differences by sales channel, where the price may vary from the printed catalogue, to special offers on the web.
Post-a-Rose also uses the marketing facility within the database to target customer promotions on certain products, to reward loyal customers as well as communicate with customers who have lapsed.
