ST. LOUIS — To help local florists compete effectively with national order gatherers, ActionPoint Marketing has launched My Special Dates, an innovative reminder service that local florists can offer to their customers. The service notifies customers in advance of gift-giving occasions and links them directly to a local florist to purchase gifts, helping to increase direct sales.
Here's how it works: Consumers sign up for My Special Dates through their local florist and provide the occasions (holidays, birthdays, anniversaries) for which they would like to receive automated reminders. They also select the method in which they would like to be reminded, via email, SMS text message, or phone call.
When reminders are sent, they contain a direct link to the local florist, with any promotions or discounts that florist would like to provide.
"Internet order gatherers are successful because they make it easy to purchase gifts," said Jon Kuhlmann, owner of Kirkwood Florist in St. Louis, MO. "I like My Special Dates because it makes it easy for my customers to purchase directly from me, yet I get the full benefit of the direct sale."
Gene Harbaugh, owner of Bo-Ty Florist in Winston-Salem, NC, agrees. "Our customers really like the helpful reminders from My Special Dates, and I like the ability to proactively compete with order gatherers for direct sales. The service is also helping me build customer loyalty and benefit from repeat sales throughout the year."
My Special Dates uses a proprietary reminder engine that alerts consumers of gift-giving occasions in the way that they want to be reached. Within seconds, these customers can connect with a local florist to place a direct order.
"Our reminder system is particularly attractive to younger customers, who are more likely to purchase from national order gatherers out of convenience," said CJ Levendoski, managing partner, ActionPoint Marketing. "My Special Dates is an advocate for local florists and gift retailers, and we like to encourage support of local businesses and local economies."
When florists set up an account with My Special Dates, they also receive marketing materials and point-of-sale displays to help promote My Special Dates with their customers. For more information, visit www.MySpecialDates.com, or follow My Special Dates on www.twitter.com/MySpecDates or www.facebook.com/MySpecialDates.
About My Special Dates
Created by ActionPoint Marketing LLC, My Special Dates is an innovative reminder service that helps consumers remember important holidays and gift-giving occasions, and connects them with local independently-owned florists and gift shops. Florists who want to compete effectively with order-gatherers can use My Special Dates to offer convenient e-mail, SMS text, and phone call reminders to their customers, making it easy and convenient for those customers to purchase gifts locally. For more information, visit www.MySpecialDates.com.
Source: My Special Dates
