Over the past few months we have been getting a lot of questions about responsive website design. We're hearing from florists that have come to understand that they need a responsive design for their floral website*, but they aren't as clear on what "responsive" actually means. Often they aren't sure whether it is something they have already, or how to check.

The good news there are some great online tools, available free of charge, that illustrate how good responsive design works, and whether you already have it in place on your existing flower shop website.

How Does Your Flower Shop Website Look on a Mobile Phone or Tablet?


*often because they hear from customers that are frustrated by how hard it is to shop online with a smartphone or tablet from a non-responsive design. This is bad! More and more sales are coming from mobile devices and you need to be prepared.

The first Beyond Cost Plus sessions for next year have been scheduled for March 2015. The first session is part of the business education lineup at the Great Lakes Floral Expo, hosted by the Michigan Floral Association, at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids Michigan.

The second session takes place two weeks later at the Annual Convention of WUMFA – the Wisconsin/Upper Michigan Florists Association in Green Bay Wisconsin. For more details on scheduling please visit the Beyond Cost Plus site.

These new 2015 sessions differ from what we have done before. In 2014 the content focussed on pricing "catalog" items –  the kind of standard off-the-shelf products that most florists offer at fixed prices. The 2015 sessions look at another very important part of the flower business – quoting weddings and other events.

The new content comes from a number of sources. It included the cooperation and testing of a small group of very successful florists, our own experience in the floral retail, and a very sophisticated approach to quoting work that has been refined and perfected by some of the most successful custom software development companies in the business.

That last part might sound strange but it applies beautifully. This really is a new approach to quoting floral sales for events – an approach that delivers both fewer missed sales and higher profits.

The sessions will be presented by Mark Anderson.