Optimized Customer Experience through Technology

By Arnold Leap, CIO, 1-800-Flowers.com

Arnold Leap, CIO, 1-800-Flowers.com

Three Essentials for Retailers

a) Reporting and Analytics (social, mobile, reporting) b) E-Commerce (B2C, B2B, Mobile Commerce) c) Core Operations (Store operations, merchandising, Infrastructure)

At 1-800-Flowers.com, we believe our best product is our customer experience. In an effort to enhance the customer experience, we recognize delivering strong customer service through social media leads to an increase in brand loyalty and repeat business. This is one of the many ways in which technology, which continues to evolve at a rapid pace, has revolutionized the retail industry.

"1-800-Flowers.com is now leveraging technology that allows its network of florists to track deliveries minute by minute in real time"

As a leading destination for floral and gourmet gifts, we have worked hard to build trust with our 30 million customers today.

We engage our customers on our social media platforms, providing full transparency while answering each customer inquiry, all in an effort to better assist the customer and enhance the experience. Some retailers might be uncomfortable with that level of transparency, but at 1-800-Flowers.com, we embrace it.

Even beyond social, we are laser-focused on the customer experience. Everything from the trucks we use for deliveries, to our floral designers that are spread out across the country, to the sourcing that goes into our original arrangements and gift offerings, to the customer service agents on the receiving end of phone calls and e-mails–every moving piece of our business makes up the overall experience a customer has with us.

1-800-Flowers.com also continues its long history of innovation to improve the customer experience. We were among the first to offer 24-hour service through a toll-free 800 number, as well as to use the Internet for direct sales to customers (and the first merchant to transact on AOL). We were early to the mobile market, launching the first floral gifting experience on Blackberry, and were the first to open an online store within Facebook. More recently, we launched our new mobile app across multiple platforms, including iOS, Android and Windows 10. We have also partnered with Uber to offer on-demand delivery to our network of florists, something that also benefits our customers. As you can see, we offer creative and innovative services that provide ease and convenience for our customers to act on their thoughtfulness and deliver a smile to the important people in their lives.

To further enhance the customer experience, 1-800-Flowers.com is now leveraging technology that allows its network of florists to track deliveries minute by minute in real time. Florists can now manage their delivery activity more efficiently via GPS, while providing customers with the most up-to-date information on their delivery status, including photos of their floral arrangement at the recipient’s doorstep, or even an image of the arrangement in possession of the recipient.  This new personalized service, in which 1-800-Flowers.com is the first to bring to market in the category, enhances the customer experience for both the customer and the recipient. Marking our 40th anniversary, innovation keeps 1-800-Flowers.com ahead of the curve. We constantly keep our thumb on the pulse of new technologies.