The holiday season is fast approaching and now, more than ever, consumers turn to the internet to make their purchases. This holds true for flower purchases as well. The explosion of online brokers can be confusing for consumers. How can you tell if you are dealing with a bricks and mortar shop, or just a call center? And is there a difference? Research shows that online-only floral companies can be more expensive, and often deliver an inferior product to an actual flower shop.
Here is how online ordering from a call center works. Once you place an order, the clearing company will forward your order to an actual flower shop or warehouse, and retain a portion of the payment for themselves. This lowers the actual value of the flowers as the "middle man" takes a cut.
Even then, you may not get exactly what you expected for two reasons. First, many retail florists who fill orders for these order gatherers have a hard time giving the customer exactly what they have ordered. This is due to the fact that some stock is not always available in stores but the seasonality of flowers is not reflected in the product selection that the call centre website offers. Second, in the case of "ship direct", the order is forwarded to a floral warehouse where the flowers are shipped dry-packed with a vase for the recipient to assemble. The arrangement does not include professional "arranging" at all. This is typically never mentioned in the order process. Both of these problems can be avoided by ensuring that you are dealing directly with a flower shop.
In these times where our money must go farther it pays to deal with a local florist. You will be serviced by knowledgeable staff who can personalize your order; it will be arranged by a professional; and, you receive fresh stock and full value for your dollar! You can tell you are dealing with an actual flower shop by looking for an address on the website, and a local number you can call.
