Online flower delivery services are websites that allow
consumers to place floral and allied gifting orders by browsing an online catalogue.
Services are broadly divided into three categories: Local Florist, Order Broker
and Courier.
Local florist
Local florist websites offer arrangements and bouquets for direct delivery in
the geographic area physically serviced by their companies' own vans and personnel.
This service is also known as 'hand delivered' and has the advantage of presenting
shoppers with the precise items available for flower delivery on a same-day basis.
Local delivery charges are generally displayed as separate fee from the price
of each product.
Order broker
Order brokers are third-party agents that display arrangement and bouquet product
images and then transfer orders to affiliated local florists for fulfillment
and hand delivery. Order broker customers pay additional service fees as well
as local flower delivery charges, which are generally included in the price displayed
with each product. The advantage of this service is the consolidation of purchases
for flower delivery to multiple locations through a single website.
Most local florists also offer order brokering services for national and international delivery
Flower delivery
Courier delivered flowers (also sometimes called Grower Direct or Flowers By
Post) are assembled into bunches at the farm or in the warehouse of an importer
or distributor; they are then placed in cardboard boxes and shipped direct to
the recipient via overnight couriers.
The advantage of such a service is that
because the flowers are shipped from the farm/importer they can be fresher although
temperature fluctuations en-route and shipping conditions may negate the benefit.
[1] Recipients are responsible to unpack, clean, condition and arrange courier
delivered flowers.
Peak Periods for Flower delivery
Christmas, 25th Dec; Valentines Day, 14th Feb; and Mother's Day, 2nd Sunday of May are when demand of services is the highest.
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