FloristWare News

Merchant Warehouse - our preferred merchant services provider - was recently named the Electronic Transactions Association’s (ETA) First Annual ISO of the Year. This is a great honor for them - it means they are very good at providing credit card clearing services.

If you are not yet using FloristWare to process your credit cards you need to consider it - it will make processing sales faster, easier and less risky. Of course a very important part of the FloristWare philosophy is that you can choose whatever merchant service provider gives you the best value but you should give Merchant Warehouse a try. They are currently offering FloristWare users a free analysis of existing statements (so that they can commit to potential savings in writing) and free set-up. Please contact Chris Shirley at 800.941.6557 x2370.

This may be of interest to Canadian shops looking at purchasing new computer equipment:

http://www.reuters.com/article/usDollarRpt/idUSN2742477320090127

The interesting part is this:

"Ottawa also promises to introduce a 100 percent capital cost allowance rate for computer-related business purchases for a two-year period ending in February 2011."

We are pleased to announce the latest version of the fastest-growing independent POS system for florists is now available as a free upgrade to all FloristWare users.

FloristWare Version 3.0 includes many exciting features and enhancements, including:

• unprecedented integration with e-commerce websites
• new interfaces with some of the most exciting, progressive & affordable wire services
• superior e-mail marketing, list management and CANSPAM compliance tools
• powerful control of "Cost of Goods Sold" (COGS) reporting
• a new scheduling tool that allows you to create, view and print staff schedules

A more complete list of new features can be found in our Version History section.

"Our goal is to provide the best and most flexible POS system to florists. This means giving our users as many options as possible regarding order relay, website integration, credit card processing, etc., so they can choose whatever is best for them" explains Mark Anderson, founder of FloristWare.

"Unfortunately for florists the traditional service providers have chosen to limit options and increase prices - even as shops fail at a record rate. The good news is that a whole new crop of exciting vendors has sprung up, offering more innovative and affordable products and services. We're working with these companies to put florists back in control of their businesses and provide better services at better prices."

Florists interested in learning more about the FloristWare POS system are encouraged to download the new free demo/trial version from our downloads section.

About FloristWare

FloristWare is a powerful, easy-to-use and affordable order-taking and point-of-sale system for anyone in the business of selling flowers. It saves money by streamlining and simplifying many of the time-consuming and repetitive tasks involved in running a flower shop. It also increases sales and builds customer loyalty by allowing florists to provide a higher level of customer service.

First released in July of 2005, FloristWare has been positively received by both florists and industry experts who have cited it’s power, ease of use and affordability. It allows a new user to start using the system with no training, and pays for itself through time/money saved and increased sales. It is the fastest growing independent POS system for florists.

If you would like more information please call Susan Page at 1-888-531-3012 x702.

We've begun posting the first installments in a six-week program designed to get you off to a great start in 2009. We hope that this information will be useful to all florists - not just FloristWare users.

We are very pleased to announce that FloristWare will participate in the 2008 AIFD Symposium being held in Chicago from July 1-8.

We hope that any florists attending will look for us at the "Picnic with the AIFD Partners" on the afternoon of Friday, July 4.

Earlier today all FloristWare users should have received their copy of the Florist Awareness Newsletter.

This edition included information on the new features in FloristWare v2.7 and a special section on how to use the new "Quote" feature when preparing a quote for event work.

If you didn't receive your copy of the June 2008 Florist Awareness Newsletter, send us an email at news@floristware.com and we'll make sure you get a copy.

We are very pleased to announce that FloristWare has joined the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) as an industry partner. AIFD is the floral industry's leading non-profit organization committed to establishing and maintaining higher standards in professional floral design and we are proud to be a supporter.

FloristWare Version 2.7 is now available to all users. More information on the exciting new features in this update can be found on the Version History section of the website.

Over the next few weeks our support department will be contacting all users to take them through the update process but - if you are in a rush - please contact our support department at your convenience to get things started.

FloristWare is pleased to offer our monthly FLORIST AWARENESS Newsletter.

Each month you'll find useful information on how best you can use FloristWare, find out what's new in the latest update and take advantage of new features and enhancements.

If you didn't receive your copy of the MAY 2008 FLORIST AWARENESS Newsletter, send us an email at news@floristware.com and we'll make sure you get a copy.

We are pleased to announce that FloristWare v2.7 is currently being beta tested in a few select shops and will be available as an update for all users before the end of May 2008. Free demo and trial versions of this latest update will available soon after.

This latest update contains several new features the test shops are finding very useful. We'll be releasing more information in the next few days.