Concern about late deliveries and poor quality product has prompted FTD to launch two new initiatives, one that ranks florists based on rejected and refunded orders and another that charges a fee for orders not rejected in a timely fashion. 

The Quality Star Program will monitor and evaluate a shop's rejected orders and refunds and divide that dollar value by the total volume of orders filled to come up with a "star quality rating," according to John Higginson, vice president of Mercury Technology. Retailers ranking in the top-third of FTD florists will receive a "quality star," which will be indicated in the member statement, as well as how they are ranked relative to FTD florists overall.

Higginson says the program, set to launch later this summer, is designed to give retailers an opportunity to see how their shop is performing compared to others in the industry. "They can see how well they're doing and what changes they want to make," he says.

The initiative that's creating even greater "buzz" in the industry, because it directly impacts a shop owner's wallet, is the Delayed Response Program, launched June 1, in which FTD will assess penalties on behalf of the sending florist for orders not rejected or fulfilled in a timely matter.

"Thousands and thousands of orders are rejected after the holiday," says George Kanganis, executive vice president of sales at FTD. "A lot of florists never do it, they work hard to [respond right away and either fill or reject orders]. But many florists hold onto the order and then reject it when it's too late for another florist to fill the order on time.

For instance, during Valentine's Day 2008, 459 FTD orders went undelivered until after Valentine's Day, according to Kanganis. "That's what motivates this," he adds. "If you can't handle the order, just tell us, there are people who can."

Under the new program, florists who fail to reject an order within two hours of receipt (or an order by 10 a.m. local florist time if the order is received after 5 p.m. the previous day) will be assessed a $10 penalty, which gets credited to the sending florist. After 24 hours, the penalty goes up to $20, and florists who reject the order after 2 p.m. local time (1 p.m. on the weekends) on the date of the delivery will be charged two times the value of the order, "which is usually what the sending florist has to pay out in order to make it right with the customer," says Higginson.

"You will not be assessed a fee on orders for Sunday delivery as long as you are not codified for Sunday delivery," FTD says. Shops also have the option to suspend their system after hours and resume it when they open. Officials warn, however, that simply turning off the system or printer does not suspend your shop from receiving orders; florists must set their system with the "SUS" message.

Some florists E-Brief editors spoke with say meeting the two-hour deadline might be difficult when a florist has questions about an order. In its posted responses to the FAQs, FTD says "filling the order with a quality product" should be the florist's "ultimate goal," and florists who don't think they can provide the right container, flowers, etc., should reject the order. "If you are confident that you can fill the order, but need clarification, you can wait for a response," according to the responses to FAQs. "However, if you end up having to reject the order and it is two hours after receipt of the order, the fee schedule will apply."

Rod Saline, SAF president, says that florists will naturally be concerned about the fees but acknowledges that the "motivation [for the delayed response program] is about improving customer satisfaction and confidence, and that's good."

Rejecting orders after they're "too late" is a major problem in the industry, Kanganis reiterates. "If someone doesn't do something about this problem today, this category might be in a lot of trouble" down the road, he says.