ENTENMANN’S WINS FLORALAPP™ AT HILLCREST GARDENS

Sept 21, 2011 (Paramus, NJ) - Eddie Von Bargen of Entenmann’s Florist won a surprise giveaway of floralapp^TM for his shop at a presentation for florists at Hillcrest Gardens.  The evening was sponsored by Hillcrest Gardens and featured Arthur Conforti of Beneva Solutions, a leader in marketing solutions for the floral industry.

Conforti’s message was how to become even more successful by marketing, embracing technology, and using creative design to grow business for independent floral shops.  In attendance were over thirty florists from the tri-state area.

With an emphasis on staying ahead of the technological curve, Conforti’s message included specifics on retailing in a fast-paced world from tracking unique website visitors to the evolution of smartphone apps as the up and coming wave of the future. “App usage,” says Conforti, “is EXPLODING to the tune of a 50% increase each year.  Raw numbers don’t lie. This is a great opportunity for us to make technology deliver on its promises.”

floralapp^TM is the most widely used app for the floral industry. More than a scaled down mobile version of a website, floralapp^TM has proactive features to connect with the consumer without waiting for them to visit the shop or website. These features include push notifications of special offers, contest entries, and multiple payment methods. Because floralapp^TM uses stored information in the users phone, tedious typing of fields is replaced with just a few taps on the phone to send flowers. Shop owners can further individualize their own version of the app by adding their own products, specify delivery fees by zip code, and implement block-out dates.

Entenmann was visibly pleased by winning the app. “I never saw Eddie smile so wide,” said Conforti.  In addition to the app, five florists also received 1,000 pieces each of a customized holiday brochure.

The event was an undisputed success, thanks to its organizer, Eric Levy. “There were GREAT questions from the shops and we all enjoyed an evening of feeling better about our industry,” said Conforti.  “These shops were there because they were ready for a new and better way to do things. Marketing is the key, and the customer experience is more important today than ever before.”

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