Let's Look At . . .Purchasing Floral Designs Online.

A dozen roses is a traditional Valentine’s Day gift!

Valentine’s Day is a time to “impress” your love. Many looks for an extraordinary way, such as having a dozen roses delivered to a workplace. A person may look online for a florist to complete this desire. What are the options available online?

I entered “Florists in Mobile,AL” in my search engine. I found an “Yelp” article “The Best 10 Florists near me in Mobile, AL”.  Ten florists were listed. In the listing-one was in Mississippi, two are no longer in business, and seven are florists in Mobile. 

That means 30% in that sample were misleading. Does that mean they were not florists, and you would not get your order? Not necessarily. That could happen, but it probably is a wire service. The wire service may be keeping the post online because it is an older member listed that has closed the business. 

A wire service is an industry that was formed in the early 1900’s to give access to florists in other cities to deliver flowers.  This is the way it works. The wire service enrolls florists in different cities to join their membership. When the florists join this service, their shops are listed in the cities they deliver to. When a customer wants to send to someone not in their city, the customer could call their local florist. The florist would take their order, and look in the membership listings of the wire service. The local florist would call the florist in the city of the delivery and give them the order. The delivering florist would prepare the order given by the sending florist. This is the way it was done before the internet. After the internet became so popular, many wire services offered to take the orders, online, and send it to their members. 

Wire services will fill an order, but they take a percentage of the price for their services. In my opinion, this is one reason why florist prices are so high online. There are a lot of hands in the orders online. In the above sample, the florist in Mississippi will call a florist in their wire service in Mobile. The delivery will come from a Mobile florist.

In the Yelp Listings, there were 7 shops that are excellent florists. How do you know which one to use? Take the time to call the florists. Your order is important enough to research! It took me a few minutes to find the phone number for the shop I was reviewing. You may already know the florists listed.

It will save you time, money, and reassurance for placing your order over the phone to your selected florist. Holidays are busy times for all vendors. Delivered flowers make a great impression! Make sure your delivery is to your expectations!