The products you sell in your shop usually consist of your wire service branded products as well as any custom products that you sell. Your Mercury Direct II system is pre-loaded with FTD wire service products. These products are arranged by product codes. Product codes are formatted as abbreviations (for example, AB for FTD’s Anniversary Bouquet). They are a way for you and your Mercury Direct II system to track what is being sold in your shop, and they are the FTD Mercury Network's way of recognizing products.
Product codes also help you while you are sending an order. When a customer requests a particular product, you may enter the product’s code in the First Choice field and the product information will be completed for you. This way, your system understands which product is to be sent, thus reducing delivery errors and faulty pricing.
Product codes are abbreviations for products you sell in your store. They help you track sales and quantity on hand. Wire service-branded products are installed in your system for you. Your Mercury Direct II system allows you to enter your own products, and allows you to enter care and design information for each product in the database.
When sending an order, the Network uses the product codes in the choice fields to determine if a filling florist can fill your order. The sending florist has control over the method used by the Network in scanning the choice fields of an order. If a sending florist enters product codes in both choice fields, the Network will check to see whether the filling florist is accepting either or both products. If not, it will attempt to find another filling florist (unless the sending florist chooses not to auto forward). Following are some examples:
Example 1
First Choice field entry: .PMU1
Second Choice field entry: .PMU2
Action by Network: The Network will check to see if the filling florist is accepting either or both product codes. If not, it will attempt to find another filling florist (unless No Auto Forwarding was selected in the order message).
Example 2
First Choice field entry: .PMU1
Second Choice field entry: ONE DOZEN YELLOW ROSES
Action by Network: The Network will check to see if the filling florist is accepting the first choice product code. The Network cannot interpret the second choice field because it is not a product code. Therefore, it cannot check if the filling florist is accepting the second choice entry; it will send the order to the filling florist. If the filling florist does not carry yellow roses for example (the second choice item), then it is the filling florist’s responsibility to reject or forward the order.
Example 3
First Choice field entry: .PMU1
Second Choice field entry: SIMILAR
Action by Network: The Network will check to see if the filling florist is accepting the .PMU1 product code. The Network cannot interpret the second choice field because it is not a product code. If the filling florist does not carry the .PMU1 product, the florist will try to match the arrangement as closely as possible. It is the filling shop's responsibility to forward or reject orders it cannot fill or match appropriately.
Example 4
First Choice field entry: .PMU1
Second Choice field entry: (Blank)
Action by Network: The Network will check to see if the filling florist is accepting the .PMU1 product code. If not, it will attempt to find another filling florist (unless No Auto Forwarding was selected in the order message).
The Mercury Network will convert all your local product codes to the valid product code for the wire service. For example, your AB product code for FTD's Anniversary Bouquet will be converted to the proper .AB FTD product code when the order is sent over the Network.