1-800-FLOWERS.COM® Takes Customer Experience to a New Level Through Facebook Messenger

Leading Gift Retailer To Offer Bots for Messenger, Interacting with Customers in Engaging New Ways

News provided by

Apr 12, 2016, 02:00 ET

CARLE PLACE, N.Y., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine this: You're looking for just the right gift for that special someone in your life, a truly thoughtful choice that is sure to "wow" them. At your fingertips is an incredible selection of uniquely beautiful floral arrangements to help you deliver a smile. There to assist you is a friendly and knowledgeable voice, your own personal shopping assistant, helping to make certain the gift you choose is perfect in every way. And, all of this is happening on Facebook Messenger.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, the world's leading destination for floral and gourmet gifts, has announced it will offer customers the ease and convenience of ordering floral gifts through Messenger. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM has built a bot for Messenger which will interact with customers using natural language.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM will blend our bot and live customer service support on Messenger to serve as "gift concierges" and answer questions, make gifting suggestions, process orders, send shipping updates, and provide an array of other important information such as gift reminders.

"Always keeping our finger on the pulse of new and emerging technologies, we are continuously introducing new innovations to help our customers deliver a smile to the important people in their lives," said Chris McCann, President, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. "Our customer experience is our best product and we are excited to team with Facebook to offer bots for Messenger, ultimately taking our customer experience to a new level."

About 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.
1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. is a leading provider of gourmet food and floral gifts for all occasions. For the past 40 years, 1-800-FLOWERS® (1-800-356-9377 or www.1800flowers.com) has been helping deliver smiles for our customers with gifts for every occasion, including fresh flowers and the finest selection of plants, gift baskets, gourmet foods, confections, candles, balloons and plush stuffed animals. As always, our 100% Smile Guarantee® backs every gift. The company's Celebrations® suite of services including Celebrations Passport® Free Shipping/No Service Charge program, Celebrations Rewards® and Celebrations Reminders(sm), are all designed to engage with customers and deepen relationships as a one-stop destination for all celebratory and gifting occasions. In 2016, 1-800-Flowers.com was awarded a Silver Stevie "e-Commerce Customer Service" Award, recognizing the company's innovative use of online technologies and social media to service the needs of customers. In addition, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. was recognized as one of Internet Retailer's Top 300 B2B e-commerce companies and was also recently named in Internet Retailer's 2016 Top Mobile 500 as one of the world's leading mobile commerce sites. The company was included in Internet Retailer's 2015 Top 500 for fast growing e-commerce companies. In 2015, 1-800-Flowers.com was named a winner of the "Best Companies to Work for in New York State" Award by The New York Society for Human Resource Management (NYS-SHRM). The Company's BloomNet® international floral wire service (www.mybloomnet.net) provides a broad range of quality products and value-added services designed to help professional florists grow their businesses profitably. The 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. "Gift Shop" also includes gourmet gifts such as premium, gift-quality fruits and other gourmet items from Harry & David® (1-877-322-1200 or www.harryanddavid.com), popcorn and specialty treats from The Popcorn Factory® (1-800-541-2676 or www.thepopcornfactory.com); cookies and baked gifts from Cheryl's® (1-800-443-8124 or www.cheryls.com); premium chocolates and confections from Fannie May® (www.fanniemay.com and www.harrylondon.com); gift baskets and towers from 1-800- Baskets.com® (www.1800baskets.com); premium English muffins and other breakfast treats from Wolferman's® (1-800-999-1910 or www.wolfermans.com); carved fresh fruit arrangements from FruitBouquets.com (www.fruitbouquets.com); and top quality steaks and chops from Stock Yards® (www.stockyards.com). Shares in 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, ticker symbol: FLWS.