Due to increased operating expenses and lower gross profit margin, Westbury, NY-based flowers and gifts marketer 1-800-Flowers.com (NASDAQ:FLWS) posted a net loss at $2.0 million for the quarter ended March 27, compared with net income of $1.9 million last year.
The company, which also includes the Plow & Hearth and Popcorn Factory titles, among others, reported a 17% revenue increase to $157.0 million for the quarter, compared with revenue of $134.1 million last year. Online revenue increased 23% to $91.6 million compared with $74.5 million last year. Telephonic revenue increased 3.1 % to $52.4 million compared with $50.9 million last year. During the quarter 800-Flowers stepped up its search and affiliate marketing and broadcast advertising efforts. “We did this to become more aggressive in terms of new customer acquisition, leveraging what we believe to be the lowest cost to acquire a new customer in the floral gift category,” said CEO Jim McCann in a company statement. As a result, the company netted approximately 800,000 new customers, nearly 80,000 more than was added in the same time last year.