1300 FLOWERS’ chairman Jack Singleton says he is “delighted by the transaction that brings Fast Flowers under the 1300 FLOWERS umbrella. Fast Flowers has strong brand recognition and has grown to become an industry leader over the last decade. This is testament to the abilities of CEO Jonathan Barouch and his management team”.

1300 FLOWERS will take operational control of the Fast Flowers Group in October and will continue to maintain both brands.

According to Jack Singleton “there are significant synergies between the two operations and we have picked up some wonderful assets which will only serve to improve our supply chain – which means fresher flowers – and more of them – for our customers”.

Jonathan Barouch is pleased with the acquisition, having founded the company as a high school student in 1999. “Growing Fast Flowers from an idea into one of Australia’s high profile floral brands has been a wonderful experience. I have known and respected Jack’s business abilities for almost 10 years so I couldn’t have asked for a better person to lead the business through its next stage of growth”.

Jonathan is looking forward to pursuing other business opportunities after the successful integration.

1300 FLOWERS was founded in 2005 by Sydney entrepreneur Jack Singleton. With a network of hand-selected florists all around Australia, 1300 FLOWERS prides itself on delivering the freshest and longest lasting flowers – in the most beautiful arrangements and bouquets. The 1300 FLOWERS customer service team understands that every flower delivery is an expression of an emotion. As such, every order and customer request is handled by the 1300 FLOWERS team with passion and respect. This understanding of what sending a gift of flowers is all about has seen 1300 FLOWERS fast become one of Australia’s leading flower delivery brands.

Fastflowers.com.au was the brainchild of teenager Jonathan Barouch who, while still at high school, could see the potential of the internet when it came to purchasing flowers. He saw that many of his friends were too shy to order flowers for their girlfriends in the traditional way, so he set up his first internet company at the ripe young age of 17. Fast Flowers has undergone significant growth since its launch in July 1999 and now holds one of the top spots for online flower sales in Australia and New Zealand. With the addition of international destinations, Fast Flowers now offers a complete floral delivery service to almost anywhere in the world.

Fast Flowers owns and operates retail stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and has alliances with florists around Australia and New Zealand to offer same-day flower delivery nationally and internationally.

“For us it’s very profitable for the simple reason that you get no cost of fulfilment, you only get the cost of freight. So this can be an enormous opportunity for us going forward, but we’ll move along with the customers.”

Click here to read the full interview transcript.

It is understood the online mall will be led by fashion, which the company sees as its strongest attraction, and split into categories including electronics and books.

MEDIA RELEASE – Although Australian bricks and mortar retailers have been slow to expand online, they have a distinct advantage over web-only retailers, according to the Executive Director of Salmat Digital, Paul Marshall.

In his presentation to the Online Retailer conference in Sydney today, Paul said that brand awareness, loyalty and an existing customer base are key assets when Bricks and Mortar retailers take their business online. Combine that with the power of the store network to give their customers a true multichannel shopping choice and they have a strong playing hand.

“Despite being slow to adopt eCommerce, the history and level of trust retailers have built with their customers will pay major dividends when they expand online, Paul said.

“Data from the US shows that consumers of multichannel retailers, or retailers with both a physical and online presence, are proven to be more loyal, buy more per visit, and have a higher lifetime value.

“According to the US Internet Retailer website, of the top 100 online retailers in the US, Bricks and Mortar retailers make up the largest segment (circa 44%) and are also the fastest growing segment over web-only retailers, mail-order retailers and manufacturers. Fast movers include Costco, Wal-Mart, Sears, and Best-Buy.”

“This shows that despite a slow entry, the bricks and mortar retailers are in a strong position to succeed in selling online. They can easily play catch up and overtake web-only retailers.”

In his presentation, Paul emphasised to retailers the importance of laying the right foundations, rather than rushing into an ill-thought out online strategy.

“Success in multichannel retailing is a marathon not a sprint. Making sure your house is in order is essential, develop the right strategy and invest where it matters.”

In 2009, eCommerce in Australia is expected to generate around $18 billion in sales.

MIS

The company upgraded it’s 500 stores to a wide-area network to assist with real-time information transfer between stores.

“Not a week goes by without us receiving emails from people asking when they will be able to buy from us online, so we are very keen to get back into the space,” Ms Ryan, Colorado Group’s chief information officer said.

Read the full article at MIS Australia

Speaking at the Retail World Summit in Sydney, Marshall warned that retailers risk losing market share if they do not synchronise their strategies across different channels – otherwise known as cross-channel retailing.

“The internet has opened up a whole new channel for retailers to reach consumers, however, it’s critical that a retailer’s ecommerce business is not set up as a siloed operation.

“In the US, major retailers made the mistake of establishing their online business as a separate operation to their bricks and mortar stores, with different strategies, management and P&L statements. This gave rise to numerous customer service problems,” he said.

Read the full article at eTailToday.com.au