What s Blooming is Mr s Day? -800-Flowers.com Watson-Powered Gift Concierge Clues Us In

ARMONK, NEW YORK - 11 May 2017: 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLWS) Gifts When you Need (GWYN ), an online gift concierge for the leading provider of floral and gourmet gifts, may help shoppers uncover the perfect gift for Moms this year. Data from thousands of customers using GWYN powered by IBM Watson (NYSE: IBM) gives insight on hot gifts picks for Mother's Day.

Blue is one of the top flower colors choices for Mom along with the more traditional red and pink. (Image Courtesy of 1-800-Flowers.com )

According to the National Retail Federation's annual study, consumers plan to spend a record high of $23.6 billion on Mother's Day shopping this year, topping last year's previous record of $21.4 billion.

So what will those shoppers be getting Moms this year? According to data based on thousands of GWYN users looking for gifts for mothers the past year the top selections include:

More than half (52 percent) were looking to buy flowers and plants.

The top flower picks were roses, tulips, and lilies.

Surprisingly, blue is one of the top flower colors choices for Mom along with the more traditional red and pink.

Beyond flowers or plants, the second most popular gift for mom was chocolates (11 percent) closely followed by baked goods, fruits and nuts, as well as specialty gifts (9 percent).

As Mother's Day is a key holiday for us, it's important that we provide our customers with easy and convenient ways to deliver a smile, especially for mom, said Arnie Leap, CIO, 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. GWYN helps tailor responses to each customer by offering personalized feedback and service. With each gift found for mom using GWYN, the system learns more about their needs and refines the shopping experience overtime.

More than one in three Americans is willing to make a purchase from a chatbot, said Laurence Haziot, IBM s Global Managing Director and General Manager for the Consumer Industry. Powering chatbots with artificial intelligence, such as IBM Watson, enhances the customer service by helping retailers identify customer intent behind inquires and learn their preferences based on multiple interactions, enabling the chatbots like GWYN to make more relevant, personalized recommendations and engage the consumer.

GWYN guides customers through an interactive shopping experience to help them purchase the perfect gift for any occasion, like Mother's Day, to personalize the customer experience and improve product discovery. GWYN is based on IBM's recently acquired Fluid's Expert Personal Shopper software, which uses the IBM Watson cognitive technology system. When customers inform GWYN that they are looking for a gift for their mothers, for example, GWYN will follow up with a series of questions such as type of occasion and sentiment to ensure that the right product suggestion is given.

1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. found shoppers are willing to spend more time identifying the right gift when using GWYN as they ask nearly five questions per interaction and take up to two minutes to interact with the service. 80 percent of customers said they would use GWYN again.

About IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing

Watson represents a new era in computing called cognitive computing, where systems understand the world in a way more similar to humans: through senses, learning, and experience. Watson continuously learns from previous interactions, gaining in value and knowledge over time. With the help of Watson, organizations are harnessing the power of cognitive computing to transform industries, help professionals do their jobs better, and solve important challenges.

As part of IBM's strategy to accelerate the growth of cognitive computing, Watson is open to the world, allowing a growing community of developers, students, entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts to easily tap into the most advanced and diverse cognitive computing platform available today. Watson solutions are being built, used and deployed in more than 45 countries and across 20 different industries.

For more information on IBM Watson, visit: ibm.com/Watson and ibm.com/press/watson. Join the conversation at #ibmwatson.

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 , are all designed to engage with customers and deepen relationships as a one-stop destination for all celebratory and gifting occasions. In 2017, 1-800-Flowers.com was awarded Gold 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 2016 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

LINK:	http://www-03.ibm.com/press/uk/en/pressrelease/52362.wss...
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