FTD.com, the Downer’s Grove, IL-based flower and gift marketer, had third-quarter net income of $2.4 million on revenue of $36.1 million, compared to a net loss of $8.5 million on revenue of $26.6 million in its fiscal 2000 third quarter. The company’s current quarter ended March 31.
The company attributes much of its return to profitability to a $7.7 million reduction on marketing and promotion expenses, reflecting a shift in emphasis from customer acquisition marketing to "a more balanced program of customer acquisition and retention," as the company indicated in a statement accompanying its earnings. The company’s customer-acquisition costs were cut by nearly two-thirds, from $43.26 per customer in third quarter 2000 to $14.25 currently. The company spent just over $4 million on marketing and promotions in the quarter just ended.
At the end of the quarter, FTD.com had 3.1 million customer accounts, up 10% from the 2.8 million it recorded at the end of December and 51% from the 2.1 million it had a year ago.
During the most recent quarter, FTD.com logged 536,000 orders, with an average value of $60.96 per order, compared to 405,000 orders, averaging $58.89. The company did not release figures regarding profitability of each order.
The Internet generated 86% of the order mix during the third quarter, up from 78% a year earlier, which FTD.com attributed to customers’ preference for viewing goods online before purchasing them.
