Your Best Floral Value
Why Flowers Cost Too Much, and
Have Too Little Value…
And What You Can Do About It


By

William C. Miller

High Prices – Marginal Quality

America’s flower buying public – including corporate America – is beset with an entirely new problem. It is most obvious at major holidays, but is present at all times. The problem is high prices and marginal quality.

To illustrate the severity of this problem here are actual customer satisfaction scores on a number of nationally known “florists.” Scoring is by Yahoo! Shopping and Google as of 12/19/2007:

1.1-800-Flowers: 1 ½ Stars (Y) and 2 ½ Stars (G)

2.Teleflora (TF): 2 Stars (Y) Not rated by Google

3.FTD: 2 Stars (Y) and 2 ½ Stars (G)

4.Proflowers: 3 ½ Stars (Y & G)

(As a point of reference, The Flower Hut, the author’s store, ( www.flowerhut.com) is rated at 4 ½ Stars and this is one of a handful of florists in the nation with a rating between 4 and 5 Stars.)

Clearly, the flower-buying public is very unhappy with the products and services of these major National “florists.” But Why?

To understand what is going on, let’s first go through a “typical” flower buying procedure. Typically, a customer goes online and searches for “flowers.” He notices that several vendors’ names keep appearing on all of his searches. Reassured by the presence of an apparent plethora of “national florists,” he confidently places his order.

But, when he sees the flowers, he is usually in for a huge surprise. Often, the product looks skimpy when compared to the beautiful online picture. Commonly, one or more of the featured flower varieties are missing. And sometimes the flowers aren’t delivered at all!

To make matters worse, the shocking fact is that when a customer orders online from one of these “national florists,” about 44% of his purchase price goes to fees and commissions. Only 56 cents out of every dollar goes to flowers and delivery!

Why is this happening?

There “Ain’t” No Such Thing As A “National Florist”

In contrast with virtually all other retail segments, there is no such thing as a “McFlowers.” This is not for lack of trying. Just a few years ago, some of the founders of Blockbuster Video attempted a national floral operation under the name, Gerald Stevens. It failed for a number of reasons.

But nationally advertised “florists” are abundant. Among those are FTD, Teleflora, Just Flowers, Blooms Today, 1-800-Flowers and a host of others. For a more complete list, go online and search for “flowers” or “florists.”

Who Are Those Guys?

With the exception of a handful of “grower direct” flower outlets, whose characteristics we will explore later, “national florists” fall into two categories. These are, “Network Administrators” and “Order Gatherers.”

In the US, there are three main Network Administrators. These are FTD, Teleflora and a smaller network called BloomNet directed by 1800Flowers.com . FTD and Teleflora started as membership-only communications networks. These networks were established so that independent flower shops around the country could assist their local customers in sending flowers to other cities, states and even overseas.

Some twenty or thirty years ago, FTD began accepting orders directly. After years of declaiming that they would not compete with their own customers, Teleflora changed its operating philosophy and also began accepting orders directly from customers.

“Order Gatherers” are business entities that usually, but not always, have at least one actual flower shop. (This is how they gain entry into one or more of the floral networks.) However, their bricks-and-mortar flower shop(s) are usually physically separate from their telemarketing/web marketing operations. Their marketing operations more closely resemble “call centers” wherein the operators may have little, if any practical floral experience.

In addition, FTD has a member category called “Sending Only Florist.” Entities in this category have no floral capability at all!

One relatively easy “hint” about the status of these “national florists” is to search their website to determine where they are located. Most, if not all Order Gatherer websites, DO NOT REVEAL TO THE CUSTOMER WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED! Another “hint” is that their web sites are usually “loaded” with a vast array of products – often with no regard for seasons of the year, regional availability or suitability for the intended purpose.

Follow The Order

In most locations, the order handling process is highly automated. In an extreme case, a customer’s order may go directly from their website into their order processing software. There, the customer’s credit card will be charged, a florist in the town where the order is to be delivered is computer-selected from the Network database, and the computerized order is electronically sent directly to the receiving florist where the product will be made and delivered.

This process means that there is no (or limited) human intervention in the ordering process. What’s the result? Mis-spelled card messages, orders going to the wrong city, orders for Valentines bouquets in December, and orders for spring tulips in August!

In these network centers, the Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) primary focus is to deal with order processing issues such as a declined credit card, or gross ordering errors. Occasionally (and often late in the day when other florists have refused the order) these CSRs will make personal calls to local florists in a now-desperate attempt to find someone to fill an order.

Follow The Money

A typical order through a “national florist” consists of two main elements:

1. The product(s) – each with a price that includes about $7 for delivery.

2. A handling charge – typically around $10

In addition, some “florists” charge extra for “same day” delivery and for Saturday delivery, even though “real” florists never charge for these “extras!”

Two things should be immediately obvious. First, if delivery is included in the price, then a customer that orders more than one item going to the same location will pay a double charge (or more!) for delivery. Examples might include multiple sympathy arrangements going to the same funeral, a flower arrangement and a balloon bouquet for a favorite “birthday girl,” or multiple arrangements destined for the Administrative Assistants in a department.

Second, if the delivery is going to a local (to the sender) address, why should the local customer pay an extra $10 or more so that a flower order can be sent from the sender’s town to the sender’s own town?

But the story does not end here. Studies show that an average floral order is about $60. Neglecting tax, let’s look at where the money goes:

1. Purchaser pays: $60

2. Handling Charge: ($10)

3. 20% Commission to Sending Florist: ($12)

4. 7% Network Commission: ($4.20)

5. Amount provided to local florist: $33.80

In other words, about 44% of the purchaser’s money goes to FEES and COMMISSIONS!

Is it any wonder why customer satisfaction is at an all-time LOW?

A Word About “Grower Direct” Suppliers

In addition to the “National Florists” that we discussed above, there is one other floral source that has risen to prominence. This floral source is called “Grower Direct.”

The idea is attractive. Why not bypass all the middlemen and buy directly from the growers? This would, it would seem, be sort of like shopping for foodstuffs in a Farmers Market.

But the term “Grower Direct” has more “hype” than reality associated with it. This is because most flowers – especially roses – are grown in the South American countries of Colombia and Ecuador and are shipped in bulk to the United States.

Given our current geo-political situation, there is no way that flowers from these locations can be shipped directly from those countries to the US consumer!

However, customs and TSA inspections are streamlined when the recipient is an established commercial flower importer. Flower importers are registered, bonded and have a long history of satisfactory import performance, so the importation process is straightforward (for them.)

Incoming shipments are in cardboard boxes called “grower packs.” A typical grower pack might consist of, for example, 10 bunches of 25 stems-per-bunch roses, or 24 bunches of daisies, or 100 stems of Gerber daisies. Grower packs are not suitable for distribution “as is” to the general public.

Instead, these grower packs are sent to warehouses where they are refrigerated until they are needed for bouquets. Products may stay in these refrigerated warehouses for as little as a few hours during busy seasons or for several days (or more) during slow periods.

When a "Grower Direct” supplier receives a bouquet order, the various grower packs are opened, and their contents are used to assemble flower bouquets. Finally, the finished bouquets are placed into domestic shipping boxes and sent to their destination.

Clearly, this process is not “grower direct.” But it does reduce consumer costs and can provide fresher flowers to the consumer.

But there are some caveats. UPS and FEDEX -- the primary carriers of these bouquets – do not have refrigerated aircraft or trucks. And non-refrigerated flowers can spoil very quickly. Also – and contrary to the pictures found on many “grower direct” websites - the flowers come un-arranged. This may be OK if the recipient has floral design abilities. It is not so good for hospital gifts, and is useless for funerals.

How Can Someone Get His or Her Best Floral Value?

Like many things in life, the answer is both simple and complex. The simple answer is, DO NOT USE A “FLORIST” THAT IS NOT LOCAL TO THE RECIPIENT! This is true whether you are sending flowers locally or out of the area.

How do you find a florist? The old, “reliable” technique of asking a friend may not be as reliable when applied to flowers. Why? The average person buys flowers just 1.7 times per year. It can take years to establish a meaningful experience level!

Another simple answer is to look in the “Yellow Pages.” But, on paper, all florists look the same. And many “Yellow Pages” advertisers are either Network Administrators or Order Gatherers.

Before you buy, check out the local florist’s website. If the local florist does not have one, they may be too new – or poorly run! Beware of websites sponsored by the Network Administrators. These sites generally are just “mirrors” for the main websites, the prices are generally set by the wire services; and those prices are usually quite high!

Locally generated florist websites will often contain local “specials.” These may include cash-and-carry items or locally available designs. The Flower Hut, for example, offers a 20% discount if the products are for local delivery.

One other factor: Most florists purchase their flowers from a local floral distributor (also known as a “middleman”). Floral distributors buy their “grower pack” flowers from the same basic sources as the “Grower Direct” suppliers. They are shipped to their local area where the products are cut, hydrated and kept in readiness for local retail florists.

Just a note of caution is appropriate here. Sometimes the local distributor may keep its inventories just a little bit longer than they should. The result, of course, is a floral product that won’t last very long when put into a floral arrangement.

This may help explain why the first purchase from a florist may have super fresh, and a subsequent purchase may have contained wilted flowers.

About five percent of the retail florists in the USA have made a business decision to “buy direct.” Of course, this means buying directly from the floral importers – like the floral distributors do. The result – for the customer – is a floral product that is fresher and longer lasting than if the florist had bought similar flowers from a wholesaler.

The Flower Hut, for example, has been “buying direct” since 1990, and attributes much of its positive reputation to being able to consistently supply fresh products to its customers.

How do you find out if a florist “buys direct” or through a wholesaler? Ask them.

What about finding a florist in another city or state? This is where the Internet can be truly useful! There are several website directories that only accept listings from florists that are actually in (or immediately adjacent to) the city that you are searching for. Here are a few that have been around for quite a while and are generally trustworthy:

1. www.flowershopnetwork.com

2. www.localflowershop.com

3. www.locateaflowershop.com

4. www.ilocalflorist.com

Once you have located a prospective florist in another tow, use the same techniques that you used to find a reliable local florist. In most instances, you will find someone that is reliable and provides good value.

Finally, if all else fails, contact your local florist. Your local florist will charge you a “handling” fee (although it is usually not $10 dollars!) and will receive a commission on the sale. But you will at least know that some of your hard-earned dollars will stay in the local economy and not be sent to someplace you may never have even heard of!

William C. (Bill) Miller – along with his wife, Sardha -- own the Flower Hut in Charlotte, NC. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Bill spent some twenty-five years in corporate life. In 1988 he and Sardha launched the Flower Hut. According to Yahoo! Shopping, the Flower Hut is one of the highest ranked florists in the nation for customer satisfaction. Their shop is located at 5208 E. Independence Blvd., Charlotte, NC, 28212. Their website is: www.flowerhut.com . They may be reached by telephone (24x7) at 704-535-1041 or 800-525-3162