FloristWare Firsts

FloristWare was one of the six original Associate Members of Florists For Change.

Florists For Change (FFC) is dedicated to improving the economics of the retail florist by encouraging industry advertising, providing exceptional consumer value, and promoting equitable trading among florists.

FFC Associate Member status is awarded to a few carefully screened industry vendors that have made a significant commitment to the both the organization and industry as a whole. FloristWare is honored to have been one of the original six vendors awarded this status.

FloristWare was the first POS vendor to help florists improve service and increase sales by working with some of the most respected sales trainers in the industry. The goal was to develop an order-taking process that was not only efficient but also assured the highest level of customer service and increased order values.

While other vendors were working on increasing their revenue by introducing floral websites or forcing tighter integrations with their relay services we were focussed on increasing your revenue.

FloristWare was the first system to encourage users to select whatever merchant services provider offered the best deal. The industry norm is to force florists to go with a specific over-priced provider in order to generate residuals for the POS vendor. FloristWare has always avoided this kind of hidden fee and placed the emphasis on giving our clients more options and more power to save money.

FloristWare was first to protect florists by offering a free trial period and requiring them to use it before subscribing. The goal is to ensure that a prospective user knows exactly what they are getting before paying. POS vendors typically do everything possible to allow only very controlled, severely limited access to their software until contracts have been signed.

FloristWare was the first to save florists money by encouraging them to use existing hardware whenever possible and helping them find the best values when new hardware is needed. The standard model employed by other POS vendors involves forcing florists to purchase packages of over-priced older hardware in expensive long term financing traps.

FloristWare was the first to provide totally transparent pricing that gives all potential users a complete understanding of total costs. Other vendors continue to introduce additional fees and charges throughout the initial sale and over the life of the contract. In addition to large up-front fees it is normal for users of other systems to encounter a wide variety of per-transaction/incident/order and fixed yearly/monthly fees and charges for things like access, support, etc. In addition to this there are also often hidden charges in the form of higher credit card processing fees, enforced wire service memberships, etc. And finally there is always the specter of forced upgrades and the enormous fees that go with them. Users of other systems are often just told that they have to buy a system upgrade or lose not just access to their system but all their data.

FloristWare was the first POS vendor to include all upgrades as part of its ongoing service. This was a welcome relief to florists who had in the past been forced to pay significant upgrade fees (for software they had been told they owned) on a seemingly random basis.

We don’t charge for training or support. Instead we try and make our system so easy to use that you won’t need either but, if you do need help, there is no charge - free phone support is part of the package. We also offer valuable free webinars on a regular basis.

FloristWare was the first floral POS system to have full send/receive integration with the fast-growing and florist-friendly Flower Shop Network order relay service.

FloristWare was the first POS vendor to do away with contracts. This means our users are never trapped and are always free to leave. As a result we have to continually improve our software and service so they choose to stay with us. With FloristWare you have the power and we only have to deal with happy customers - never hostages. We wouldn’t want it any other way.

FloristWare was the first POS vendor to avoid any up-front fees. This means that users are never trapped by “sunk costs”.

FloristWare was the first to offer florists a scalable “On Demand”/SaaS (Software as a Service) model that allowed florists to scale their usage based on volume. While other vendors have copied elements of this model none are so focussed on making sure the florist retains the power.

FloristWare was the first system to look at computer generated enclosure cards as something that should look beautiful. Enclosure cards are a vital piece of branding that the recipient often keeps long after the flowers have been discarded. It should look great - not just be easy for the developer to program. We believe that we have the best cards in the industry and also introduced other industry firsts like WYSIWYG card editing.

FloristWare was the first to provide a points-based incentive program. This powerful feature allows users to increase customer loyalty and spending and also gives them a way to drive spending patterns. While others have tried to imitate this feature FloristWare has continued to innovate and refine with things like New Customer Bonus Points (extra points for customers who share the marketing information like e-mail addresses that interest you the most) and extra points for entering your reminder program.

FloristWare was the first (and remains the only) POS provider to make software available to the programs and schools that train florists free of charge. The goal is to help employers like you by ensuring that future employees come to you with a good understanding of floral POS.

Even though FloristWare does not require a connection to our servers we make all online availability statistics available to our users. This allows them monitor our performance and motivates us to maintain the highest possible levels of availability of our services.