Second Life residents, or "avatars," wander around the new 1-800-Flowers virtual greenhouse, where they can also obtain a bouquet to take with them and give to others in the online community.

1-800-Flowers.com is spending $50,000 to connect with the estimated 7.5 million users of Second Life, a Web site that lets users create a virtual world for themselves. The company is building a cyber greenhouse, holding roundtable discussions and creating simulated employees to answer questions and take suggestions, all in an effort to connect with consumers, according to founder and CEO, Jim McCann.

"I'm old," McCann said to USA Today, "so I'm always asking [younger people], 'What have you seen lately?'"

The answers McCann received to that question apparently led him to
Second Life, an online, three-dimensional community created by Linden Labs in 2003. On the site, users create imaginative versions of themselves, called "avatars," to explore, work, learn and socialize. Users can start businesses, build homes, spend real money and buy real estate. And, the site is growing: A study by Gartner, a global IT research and analysis firm, is predicting that in four years, 80 percent of active users of the Internet will have a virtual life. Now with the new presence of 1-800-Flowers.com, Second Life residents can pick up and exchange virtual bouquets, with the ability to order real flowers soon to be available.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that near the end of June the company had 10,000 interactions with avatars, and with a link available to its main Web site, there have been about 100 real-world sales generated from its virtual greenhouse.

"We engage a lot with our customers," explains Yanique Woodall, director of public relations for 1-800-Flowers.com, about why the company decided to become involved in Second Life. "We want to know how they feel, and Second Life allows us to engage with both customers and potential customers."

The $50,000 reportedly spent to launch the company's virtual presence on the site includes partnering with an outside company to develop the virtual greenhouse, along with staffing costs for answering questions from Second Life residents, according to the Mercury News.

The amount of money and people involved is a great example of what kind of commitment it takes for a business to become involved in Second Life, says Richard Dudley, owner of The Bloomery, Inc. in Butler, Pa., who explored the possibility of "opening up shop" in the online community but decided against it.

"The barrier is extremely high" to start a business in Second Life, Dudley says. He explains that not only does it take a lot of work to program and design something for the site, which might have to be left up to an outside company, but that you have to stay continuously involved.

"For the average florist, it's very unlikely to happen," Dudley says. " It's not a set-up-and-forget-it type of site, you need to stay very active."

Dudley says he also sees a potential for backlash for real-life businesses entering the site, because some Second Life residences feel it's an invasion of commercial products into their virtual world where some go to escape such things in real life. For example, presidential candidate John Edwards' "campaign headquarters" on the site was recently vandalized by Second Life residents who don't support his views, Dudley explains.

Of course 1-800-Flowers.com isn't the first business that has attempted to catch the attention of the online community's residences. The company joins Starwood Hotels, American Apparel, Circuit City and Sears, among a number of other entities which are exploring the site's marketing potential. According to Owen Lystrup, account coordinator for Lewis PR, Second Life's public relations firm, 1-800-Flowers.com does happen to be one of the first in the floral industry to adopt the trend. Lystrup added that he was unable to find smaller floral businesses participating on the Second Life site.

Can't get into Second Life? To hear about other -- more accessible -- innovative ways to expand profits, boost sales, improve customer service, check out the education sessions at SAF Palm Springs 2007, SAF's 123rd Annual Convention in Palm Springs, Calif, Sept. 26 to Sept. 29.

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

 

Previous Article    Next Article