Prospectus Summary
This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary does not contain all of the information that you should consider before investing in the Class A common stock. You should read the entire prospectus carefully, especially the risks of investing in the Class A common stock discussed under "Risk Factors." Unless we indicate otherwise in this prospectus, references to "the Company," "ftd.com," "we" or "our" mean ftd.com inc., and references to "FTDI" mean Florists' Transworld Delivery, Inc.
ftd.com is a leading Internet and telephone marketer of flowers and specialty gifts. We were founded by FTD, the world's largest floral services organization, to sell directly to consumers through our www.ftd.com Web site and our 1-800-SEND-FTD toll-free telephone number. Utilizing a select group of approximately 6,500 FTD florists who adhere to the highest service standards in the industry, we can provide same-day delivery of floral orders to over 97% of the U.S. population. We offer over 150 floral arrangements for holidays and other occasions as well as 50 specialty gifts, including stuffed animals and other plush toys, gourmet gift baskets, holiday gift sets and collectible containers. Our products are available at prices ranging from $29.99 to $176.99. For the latest twelve months ended March 31, 1999, our total revenues were $42.8 million and we received a total of 764,382 orders. For the three months ended March 31, 1999, Internet orders represented 57% of total customer orders.
The Internet is dramatically affecting the methods by which consumers buy goods and services. We believe that the number of consumers who purchase flowers and specialty gifts online and the purchasing frequency of those consumers will increase substantially over the next few years. We expect this growth to be driven by several factors, including the consumer's ability to view and obtain detailed information about the products they are considering purchasing, the unparalleled convenience offered by shopping online and the ability to be personally reminded of upcoming purchasing occasions. Forrester Research estimates that U.S. retail consumer purchases of goods and services over the Internet will increase from $7.8 billion in 1998 to over $108 billion in 2003. Forrester Research also forecasts that the U.S. online market for flowers will increase from $212 million in 1998 to $906 million in 2003 and that the U.S. online market for specialty gifts will increase from $63 million in 1998 to $544 million in 2003. We believe that the online flower and specialty gift markets are highly fragmented and that our strategies to take advantage of this market opportunity, combined with our competitive strengths will enable us to grow our business and build market share.
Competitive Strengths We believe that we will be able to significantly grow our business by capitalizing on the following competitive advantages:
. Highly recognized brand name. The FTD brand and Mercury Man logo are among the most recognized consumer brands in America.
. Ideal URL. www.ftd.com is an ideal URL because of the strength and simplicity of the FTD brand name.
. Unmatched fulfilling florist network. Nearly all of our floral orders are fulfilled by a select group of approximately 6,500 FTD florists. Our fulfilling florists adhere to the highest service standards in the industry, including our 100% satisfaction guarantee and same-day delivery.
. Superior customer service and quality control. We provide highly trained customer support at our dedicated call center and through online services. Our ongoing quality control efforts include randomly placing test orders with our fulfilling florists and monitoring customer feedback to ensure customer satisfaction.
. Strong consumer brand relationships. A variety of our products incorporate other popular consumer brands, such as The Walt Disney Company's Winnie The Pooh(R), M&M/Mars, Inc.'s M&M's(R) characters, Hickory Farms(R) and Vermont Teddy Bears(R).
. Significant online presence. We have established a significant online advertising presence with high-traffic Web sites, such as Yahoo!, the Go Network(TM), Netscape Netcenter, MSN.com and others. This presence allows us to stimulate brand awareness and drive traffic to our Web site.
. State-of-the-art interactive e-commerce platform. Our Web site allows us to store and analyze customer, sales and Web site activity and incorporates proprietary product search and e-mail reminder services.
Business Strategy
Our objective is to be the leading marketer of flowers and specialty gifts on the Internet. We intend to pursue this objective by employing the following strategies:
. Build brand awareness, increase our customer base and increase their purchasing frequency. We intend to significantly expand our online and offline advertising, direct marketing/affinity and retention marketing efforts.
. Enhance our customers' shopping experience. We plan to continue to invest in technologies that offer customers the most convenient, user-friendly and secure shopping experience possible.
. Promote our Web site to telephone customers. We intend to encourage consumers who currently purchase flowers and specialty gifts over the telephone to make their future purchases through our Web site. We believe that our Web site provides a superior shopping experience and is a better medium to retain and market to our customer base.
. Expand our product offerings. We will seek to expand our product offerings to continue to provide our customers with the best selection of flowers and specialty gifts.
. Provide superior customer service. By continuing to improve our Web site and call centers and promoting our 100% customer satisfaction guarantee, we intend to further develop and strengthen our reputation for superior customer service.
. Capitalize on FTD's international fulfillment capability. FTD's fulfilling florist network includes 32,000 florists located outside the U.S. and Canada. We intend to market our ability to fulfill international orders to consumers in the U.S.
Recent Developments
In May 1999, MSD Capital, L.P. through DBV Investments, L.P., one of MSD Capital, L.P.'s investment partnerships, made an investment for a minority equity stake in ftd.com. MSD Capital, L.P. is the private investment firm for Michael S. Dell.
Our principal executive office is located at 3113 Woodcreek Drive, Downers Grove, Illinois 60515, and our telephone number is (630) 724-6200. Our Web site address is www.ftd.com and our toll-free telephone number is 1-800-SEND-FTD. The information contained on our Web site does not constitute a part of this prospectus.