FTD History - Tim Harrington Design

Final Project
FTD History
Kevin MacDonnell
On August 18, 1910, fifteen American florists led by John Valentine, a Denver lawyer and
floral company owner, agreed to serve each other’s out-of-town customers by exchanging
orders via telegraph, and was called Florists’ Telegraph Delivery.
In 1914, the company adopted Mercury Man as its logo, to emphasize the speed of delivery.
In 1923 the British unit of the company was begun, due to the success in the states.
1924 saw the first clearinghouse established in America as the first non-profit international
banking operation in commercial history.
The Mercury Man logo was copyrighted in 1929 as the official trademark for FTD.
The floral industry’s first test order program was launched in 1946 to assure quality and
top performance from every FTD Florist.
Also, in 1946 International Telegraph Florists was established between FTD, the FTD British
Unit and Europe’s floral clearinghouse Fleurop, to sell flowers-by-wire all over the world;
the group later became known as Interflora.
A three-month test was launched in 1962 of a revolutionary plan for sending flower orders
via a special telephone network - the initial roadmap for the Mercury Network.
In 1965 Florists’ Telegraph Delivery changed its name to Florists’ Transworld Delivery to
reflect the growing international partnership with Interflora.
1973 Interflora celebrated its 50th anniversary.
1979 FTD officially launched an electronic system to link the florists together called the
Mercury Network on August 8, 1979.
In 1984 FTD launched the famous FTD® Pick Me Up Bouquet® which is still merchandised
today.
1985 FTD celebrated its 75th anniversary.
1994 FTD launched www.FTD.com, and was acquired by Perry Capital Corporation from
the florists and converted into a for-profit corporation.
Also, it launched its first point of sale system to the florist network called Mercury
Advantage.
In 1997 FTD moved its headquarters to Downers Grove, IL from Southfield, MI.
FTD.com became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “EFTD”
in 1999.
In 2002 FTD completed a reverse merger with FTD.com pursuant to which FTD became
publicly traded on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “FTDI”.
FTD launched the first Windows-based point of sale system, 2003, to the florist network
called FTD Mercury.
2004FTD was taken private by Leonard Green & Partners, L.P.
In 2005 FTD became a publicly traded company on NYSE under the ticker symbol “FTD”.
FTD acquired Interflora (U.K. and Ireland) in 2006.
Again, in 2008 FTD was taken private when it was acquired by United Online, Inc.
(NASDAQ: UNTD).
In 2009 FTD launched a rich black and metallic gold logo and packaging to reflect the
heritage of the iconic brand.
2009FTD launched new product innovations including Good, Better, Best and The FTD
Luxury Collection.
FTD launched The Better Homes & Gardens collection by FTD, in 2010, and, celebrated its
100th Anniversary.
In 2011 FTD launched the FTD College Rose collection and the Mercury Connect, a hosted
point of sale system making technology accessible for small and midsized florists.
In 2012 Interflora acquired Flying Flowers, Flowers Direct and Drake Algar in the U.K., and
launched My Interflora Creation, a unique online tool for consumers to create their own
bouquet.
2013 Robert Apatoff is named President and CEO of FTD Companies, Inc.
FTD is spun off from United Online resulting in FTD Companies, Inc. becoming an
independent, publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “FTD”.
Culled from ftp.com and Wikipedia
Comparative Analysis FTD Florist
1-800 Flowers
ProFlowers
FTD Florist
Teleflora
Same Day Delivery
Yes
Same Day Delivery
No
Same Day Delivery
Yes
Same Day Delivery
Yes
Affiliated Companies
Yes
Affiliated Companies
Yes
Affiliated Companies
No
Affiliated Companies
Yes
International Delivery Yes
International Delivery Yes
International Delivery Yes
International Delivery
Yes
Satisfaction Guarantee
Yes
Satisfaction Guarantee
Yes
Satisfaction Guarantee
Yes
Satisfaction Guarantee
Yes
Log in with Facebook
No
Log in with Facebook
No
Log in with Facebook
Yes
Log in with Facebook
Yes
Sort by Price Option
Yes
Sort by Price Option
No
Sort by Price Option
Yes
Sort by Price Option
Yes
Offers Promo Discounts
Yes
Offers Promo Discounts
Yes
Offers Promo Discounts
Yes
Offers Promo Discounts
Yes
On Sale Selections
Yes
On Sale Selections
No
On Sale Selections
No
On Sale Selections
No
Horizontal & Vertical Nav Yes
Horizontal & Vertical Nav No
Horizontal & Vertical Nav No
Horizontal & Vertical Nav Yes
Target Demographics & Personas
Age: 22 - 75
Sex: Both female and male
Occupation: No specific data
Income level: Average to high
Education: Graduated High School and/or College
Household size: Single to married with kids or grandkids
Geographic location: Anywhere in the US
Shared values: Loved ones
1. DAVE CHARMER
Age: 44
Sex: Male
Occupation: Banker
Income level: High
Education: College degree
Household size: Married to Sophie for 15 years.
They have two kids, Max 8 and Jenna 5. They live
in a medium sized house
Geographic location: Santa Barbara, California
Interests: Tennis, golf, playing with the kids,
romantic dinners with Sophie, poker nights with
his friends, wine
Choice of technology: Apple products. Dave,
Sophie and Max has an iPhone each. They also
have two laptops in the household.
SCENARIO
Dave is at an overnight job related conference and on one of the breaks overhears a colleague of his
mentioning that she just recently celebrated her 3rd anniversary. This makes Dave think about his
own anniversary and he suddenly realizes it is tomorrow. He won’t be able to make it home until late
the next night and don’t want Sophie thinking he had forgotten about her, so he decides to send her
flowers. He quickly taps in the search for a flower delivery company on his iPhone and ends up on
FTD’s webpage. He orders a big bouquet of flowers to be sent to Sophie the next day at 5pm.
2. STELLA QUARTER
Age: 25
Sex: Female
Occupation: Clerk in a clothing store
Income level: Average
Education: College degree
Household size: Single, lives with two roomies in
an apartment, both female
Geographic location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Interests: Jogging, tanning, hanging out with
friends, dancing, food, reading books
Choice of technology: Both Apple and PC products.
She has an iPhone and a PC laptop
SCENARIO
Stella’s mother calls her one day after work and
tells her that Stella’s grandmother, Nancy, recently
was in an accident and twisted her ankle really
bad. Nancy has been ordered to rest for the next couple of days and won’t be able to leave the
house. Stella feel bad for her grandmother, and even worse considering that she no longer lives in
the US. When Nancy retired she decided to move to Spain with her newly found life partner, Chris.
Stella knows Chris takes good care of Nancy, but she still wants to contribute to cheering her up. She
decides to send her flowers. Stella logs on to her computer, runs a search for a flower company that
delivers abroad. She finds FTD and orders a colorful bouquet to be sent to her grandmother.
3. SANDRA MOM
Age: 31
Sex: Female
Occupation: Art Director
Income level: Average
Education: College degree
Household size: Engaged to Dan, they are
expecting a little daughter in 2 months. They live in
an apartment together. They also have a Labrador,
Tracy.
Geographic location: San Francisco, California
Interests: Hiking, food, recently baby stuff,
spending time with friends and family, music,
painting.
Choice of technology: Both Apple and Android
products. Both Sandra and Dan has Mac’s. Sandra
has an iPhone, but Dan has an HTC.
SCENARIO
Sandra’s brother, Sami, calls her early one morning telling her that finally his little son, Parker, just
got born. Sami and his wife are feeling well and Parker is a healthy little baby boy. Sandra would love
to catch the next flight to Chicago to see her brother and her newly born nephew, but can’t go since
she’s expecting a little baby soon as well. She still wants to participate in the festivities and show
her joy in little Parker’s arrival, so she decides to send them a bouquet of flowers. She googles for a
flower delivery company and finds FTD, she likes the big collection they have and order a bouquet to
be delivered in two days when they are expected to have gotten home from the hospital.
FTD Website Re-design
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- Adheres to a well-organized grid
- Photos for the flowers, etc. available
are very vibrant and well-shot
- Effective rollovers throughout the
site, navigation is straight forward
- Good use of pop-up lightboxes as a
“quick view” for products, provides
faster ordering and easy access to
further details on a product without
leaving the page.
Weaknesses
- Advertisement before header
- Uninviting color scheme
- Redundant main navigation and sidebar
- Inconsistent typography, uses at least
3-4 different fonts
- Some alignment issues with type
- Massive footer section, most of which
could be moved to an “about us” page
- Much of the navigation to important
pages can only be found in the giant footer
in the form of small grey-text links.
- Uses dated-looking social media
buttons, one of which (Twitter) doesn’t
match the look of the other buttons. Could
be simplified down to just the logo icons.
- Entire navigation including sub-pages is
repeated in the footer, should be collapsed
if there at all
- Many flower arrangements have 3-4
different prices, the pictures of which only
showing a few extra flowers for a $10 or
more price increase
- No indication of what page you are at
when you have left the home page aside
from a small, very light-grey breadcrumb
trail under the navigation
- Features many sister sites, could be
displayed somewhere other than the
already quite chaotic page header
- Very inconsistent page layouts
throughout the site, some look alike and
others are a completely unique layout
- “Brands” and “Price” navigation buttons
don’t go anywhere, only the links that
show up in the roll-over menu do.
FTD.com User Scenarios
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
- User searches for an online flower delivery
service.
- Goes to FTD.com
- Using the quick search, they enter the type of
occasion, ZIP code and the delivery date, and
begins their search.
- The user browses the list and finds a suitable item
to order, selects their arrangement and proceeds
to checkout.
- User searches for an online flower delivery
service.
- Goes to FTD.com
- Selects an occasion from the top or sidebar
navigation.
- Browses the list of applicable flower bouquets.
- Finds their desired bouquet, selects their
arrangement and delivery date and proceeds to
checkout if that bouquet is available.
Advert
Flower and Gift
Shop
The Garden
Shop
Luxury Collection
Gift Basket
Shop
Sweet Shop
Sign In
Logo
Logo Type
1-800 Number
Mother's Day
Occasion
Chocolate Dip
Delights
Register
Ultimate Gifts
Account
Check out
Header
Quick
Delivery
Search
Flowers
Plants
Gifts
Brands
Same Day
Price
Need Flowers
Fast
Four Image Slide Show
Search
Admin's Week
Mother's Day Sale
Birthday
Get Well
Sympathy & Funeral
Deals Under $35
Sales Specials Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Best Sellers
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Exclusive Collections
Image
Image
Image
Phone Orders
Shop Runners Sign In
Disclaimer
Footer
Social Icons
FTD Information
Flowers and Plants
Image
Advert
Flower and Gift
Shop
The Garden
Shop
Luxury Collection
Gift Basket
Shop
Sweet Shop
Sign In
Logo
Logo Type
Mother's Day
Occasion
Register
Ultimate Gifts
Account
Check out
Header
Quick
Delivery
1-800 Number
Chocolate Dip
Delights
Search
Flowers
Plants
Gifts
Brands
Same Day
Mother's Day
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
Phone Orders
Shop Runners Sign In
Disclaimer
Footer
Social Icons
FTD Information
Mother's Day
Price
Advert
Flower and Gift
Shop
The Garden
Shop
Luxury Collection
Gift Basket
Shop
Sweet Shop
Sign In
Logo
Logo Type
1-800 Number
Mother's Day
Occasion
Chocolate Dip
Delights
Register
Ultimate Gifts
Account
Header
Quick
Delivery
Search
Flowers
Plants
Gifts
Brands
Same Day
Price
Shop By Product
All Plants
Shop By Occasion
More Gift Ideas
Shop By Price
Availability and Delivery
International Delivery
Sale
Image
Sale
Image
Check out
Filter
Popularity/Price/Pages
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Filter
Popularity/Price/Pages
Related Searches
Phone Orders
Shop Runners Sign In
Disclaimer
Footer
Social Icons
FTD Information
Flowers and Plants
Related Products
Proposed Changes FTD Florist
❧ Discard footer (Quick links, descriptions, redundancies)
❧ Utilize entire browser screen for a more pleasing visual aesthetic and to
maximize screen real estate
❧ Take out vertical navigation
❧ Remove and add sections to top navigation. Remove “Mother’s Day” and
“Same Day” and add “Sale” “About” and “Contact Us”
❧ Add “Comparison” or “Wish List” option so user can compare several
different flower options
❧ Add “Back to Top” feature since there are a significant amount of products
to scroll down through
❧ Consolidate information in the header to simplify. Separate Log In, Register, and Search to create more space
❧ Create typographic hierarchy in the product descriptions and price
❧ Create a quick link/tab for “Need Flowers Today”
❧ Remove top add, instead include in the slide show
❧ Create slide show to feature new or special products or highlight products
related to upcoming occasions
Sign In
Flower and Gift
Shop
The Garden Shop
Luxury
Collection
Register
Gift Basket
Shop
Sweet Shop
Account
Chocolate Dip
Delights
Check out
Ultimate Gifts
Search
Logo
Header
Logo Type
Delivery Options
Date Type Availability
1-800 Number
Occasion
Flowers
Plants
Gifts
Brands
Price
International
Sale
Compare
Breadcrumb
Wish List
About
Contact
Shopping Cart
Seven Image Slide Show
Sales Specials Featured
Featured
Featured
Featured
More
Best Sellers
Image
Image
Image
More
Image
More
Exclusive Collections
Image
Image
Phone Orders
Shop Runners Sign In
Disclaimer
Footer
Social Icons
Return
To
Top
Sign In
Flower and Gift
Shop
The Garden Shop
Luxury
Collection
Register
Gift Basket
Shop
Sweet Shop
Account
Chocolate Dip
Delights
Check out
Ultimate Gifts
Search
Logo
Header
Logo Type
Delivery Options
Date Type Availability
1-800 Number
Occasion
Flowers
Plants
Gifts
Brands
Price
International
Sale
Compare
Breadcrumb
Wish List
About
Contact
Shopping Cart
Mother's Day Slide Show
Filter
Popularity/Price/Pages
Availability and Delivery
Image
Image
Image
More
Image
Image
Image
More
Phone Orders
Shop Runners Sign In
Disclaimer
Footer
Social Icons
Return
To
Top
Sign In
Flower and Gift
Shop
The Garden Shop
Luxury
Collection
Register
Gift Basket
Shop
Sweet Shop
Account
Chocolate Dip
Delights
Check out
Ultimate Gifts
Search
Logo
Header
Logo Type
Delivery Options
Date Type Availability
1-800 Number
Occasion
Flowers
Plants
Gifts
Brands
Price
International
Sale
Compare
Breadcrumb
Wish List
About
Contact
Shopping Cart
Orchids Slide Show
Filter
Popularity/Price/Pages
Availability and Delivery
Image
Image
Image
More
Image
Image
Image
More
Image
Image
Image
More
Image
Image
Image
More
Filter
Popularity/Price/Pages
Availability and Delivery
Related Searches
Related Products
Phone Orders
Shop Runners Sign In
Disclaimer
Footer
Social Icons
Return
To
Top