Part 2 : Product fulfillment

I'm also curious as to how you manage fulfillment - what happens to an order after a customer hits the "submit" button?
City Sampler is an online business so the majority of our consumer-oriented orders come to us via our web site (most large and custom orders, however, come to us via our toll free number due to the highly personalized nature of these orders).

Our web site uses a secure shopping cart so customers can be assured of the utmost security when placing orders online. Once a customer has selected the products they wish to purchase they are led through the "check out" process on our site. After they click the "submit" button, the order goes through a real-time approval process where the credit card and billing information is verified and the process of capturing the order information is completed. Once everything has cleared a City Sampler customer service rep receives the order via email and begins the fulfillment process.

Although our online ordering process seems automated from the customer's viewpoint, a lot of personal contact and attention goes in to each and every one of our orders. Each order goes through a fulfillment process where it is input into our system and then forwarded to the City Sampler office in the chosen city. Each of these locations then provides a daily, personal confirmation for all orders received saying when they will be fulfilled.

This seems like a detailed process, but customer satisfaction is our #1 priority and ensuring that each and every order has been fulfilled according to the customer's instructions is extremely important.

So what are the pros and cons of having each city basket fulfilled locally?
The pros are that each of our baskets is filled with products that are unique and authentic to the chosen city. Because they are packaged and shipped from the selected city the customer is truly receiving an authentic sample of that city - down to the postmark!

Another advantage is the savings received in the shipment and delivery of the gift baskets. While we encourage consumer orders that may be sent anywhere in the United States, most of our corporate, wedding, and convention clients order gift baskets for events occurring in that city. So fulfilling the orders from the chosen city reflects a tremendous cost saving in delivery charges.

The only con I have found to date is something we have no control over - sales tax. The way the Internet works, we have to charge sales tax based on where the customer resides and if we have an office in that location. For example, if our customer resides in California we have to charge them California sales tax, regardless of which city they are ordering a basket from, because we have an office in California. If a customer resides in Iowa, they are not charged sales tax since we do not have an office in Iowa.

If we fulfilled from a central location, say Indiana, then we would only have to charge sales tax if the customer resided in Indiana. So, having a central fulfillment location could save the customer a minimal amount in sales taxes, but it would mean sacrificing the localized fulfillment of our gift baskets.

And how important is having the toll-free telephone number (888.647.CITY)? Do people call you or stick to email and online ordering?
Having a toll-free number is extremely important. Gift giving can be a very personal experience and it is important that our customers are able to call us with their concerns and special needs for their orders. A lot of our corporate, wedding and convention orders are customized in one way or the other, so it is important to be able to discuss the details before completing the order. We do complete many of these conversations via email, which is our preferred method of communication, but the fact is that some people still do - and probably always will - prefer the live contact of the telephone.

You've mentioned your success with custom orders from corporate clients, for conventions, corporate gifts etc.. Is a web site alone enough to bring in the larger customers, or do you draw on any other means of reaching the corporate audience?
We're finding that a large number of our corporate customers are discovering us via the Internet because that is where they are starting their research process. The Internet is a wonderful tool in that it allows you to search for products from all over the world.

From a corporate standpoint it can be a real challenge if you are organizing an event in Las Vegas but your corporate headquarters are in Florida. By using the Internet you are able to view our web site and see all of the gift baskets we offer, including the ones for Las Vegas.

There are still some corporate clients, however, that are not yet comfortable or knowledgeable about using the Internet to locate information. It is then our responsibility to make our company and products available to them in other ways. Corporate mailings, press in publications, well-targeted local advertising and personal contact have all worked well for us in raising the awareness of the availability of our products.

Continued...