Online Flower Concerns
Let me put it straight for you not to be absorbed by the number
of useless words :-) There has been many articles and
recommendations for choosing the right shop. This text covers
the points that nobody's emphasized.
1 One reason shops.
Believe me, in the growing flowers market, a florist should be
at least inventive to meet the customer requirements. What do we
face here on the area of x-USSR? We state that we reach
difficult areas and that's true. We've been reaching them for at
least 5 years + Don't you think that this'd become a regular
thing here. You'll be completely right if you think this way. We
can reach difficult and urban areas of Russia, FSU - this is the
peculiarities of the market but we can do much more. With the
relatively stable economic situation and the so-called growth we
can and do suggest more service and better quality. Actually we
keep struggling for the variety and beauty :-)
So, if a shop states the only thing "we deliver to ALL places in
Russia, FSU" as the only or main reason for ordering - think
"they are outdated"
2 One choice shops.
Following the previous abstract I can recommend to "be
inventive" Ask more and be choosy. The Russian floral school is
developing day by day. Professionals are ready to suggest
arrangements that are not just simple roses in the artificial
packing but more exclusive floral works. There is a solution for
choosy customers even for difficult destinations.
So, if you see limited arrangements suggestion with few mixed
bouquets - think "they'll finally deliver a bouquet that will
look differently, contains different flowers (so-called mixed
bouquet of seasoned flowers - what is this?) and of any colour
that is left in stock of the local florist) - they are
inconcrete because they work on terms suggested by others.
3 One bouquet shops.
Most of florists never make any site updates suggesting new
arrangements for the delivery. So, you have little chances to
send something new if you are a regular customer.
Time to think "if I finally order with them and they give me a
discount (as most of florists really set discounts) what would I
do with the discount if I don't have anything new to order?" -
they are stagnant
4 One alternative
Don't be scared to order different than roses arrangement.
Believe me a nice flowers mix with lilies or gerberas, other
flowers with natural arrangement, floral accessories etc will be
much desired as for the creativity that could easily compete
with the beautiful freshness of non-arranged roses. Also, think
that most shops suggest "dozen red roses" of the medium length
that is usually not stated in the description. The red colour
that also can be called "puple, vinous etc" So, always keep in
mind that there is always an alternative to roses ordering that
requires contacting the management, checking "the length, the
colour and the roses supplier - for example Dutch or Ecuador"
There is no wonder that most shops deliver Ecuador roses at
price of Dutch.
5 Same day delivery propaganda.
Let me explain this, only few USA and international networks
deal directly with local florists in the destination cities. To
be honest only few large shops develop their networks
establishing direct contract partnerships on places. So, just
think that there are at least 2 but usually 3-4 mediators
between you and the addressee. This surely should cause delays
and sometimes confusion. That's why most pf shops can't say
clearly whether the order has been delivered as the information
could be lost while transferring from mediator to mediator. This
could be excused for the reputable flower shops that keep
fighting for the price reduce and developing the direct
partnership network. But most shops are simply lazy to do that,
they keep on advertising "catching" unaware customers and state
that they are local florists network while they are not. I keep
finding our flower arrangements at different sites at prices
twice more than we suggest.
If you want names, contact me directly. So, they keep stealing
pictures of flowers from the site and suggest same goods at
higher prices. So, ordering at most of site think that "I deal
with mediators and I'm ready to pay double price for the
pleasure to shop here"
6 Scammers, scammer, fraud, guarantees?
And this well-known story with scammers and address
verification...
We've suggested this service solely because we had nothing to do
about that. Our customers sometimes get trapped with the
scammers that are numerous online. As most of them are honorable
men they trust ladies and try to brighten their days with
flowers. The scammers provide fake addresses and we just have to
deal with this fact. Now think that one-day shops say that the
delivery is carried out at the address provide by scammers and a
customer has no means to check the information. As there is
double lie, first the scammer, then the shop.
You can ask what to do? Actually nothing, this is the case of
reputation of the shop. We've had some problems in past with
some customers who were sure that the address was valid. They
tried to reassure us that they'd ordered at the address before
and the delivery was a success. So, the only means for proving
the previous "successful delivery" fraud is our reputation and
the number of constant customers. Just imagine that commercially
there is no benefit for the shop to refund money for the order
placed at the fake address, this is a headache most of times.
Moreover the address verification takes the administrators away
from the debug process. So, first we spend time, money, efforts,
take the responsibility for informing a customer of the fake
data and this is solely for maintaining the reputation. Of
course it's much easier to "complete" the order at the fake
address and forget about it. At least check whether the site
lists the scammers addresses for the customers' convenience.
A funny fact: Some customers decide to send flowers only because
they need address verification. But this is ok, as soon as we
can be of any help. Trust is a valuable thing.
So, while ordering at unknown place think: "I do not require any
guarantees cause it's useless, I realize the possibility to be
scammed"
7 Targeting and healthy environment!
In the conclusion. It's difficult to reveal the trustworthiness
and the quality of services at a glance. Though don't ignore the
impression that a shop is transferring though the Internet: how
it welcomes you, how they accompany you on the whole way of
ordering. This is important as you should feel the main and
foremost idea. As you might guess this idea is not just making
money but make people separated by small and large distances
satisfied or even happy. This could always be noticed. If the
shop is ambitious, "healthy", meaning good for themselves and
people they work for, oriented on general idea of customer
satisfaction then...This is your guarantee that people collected
under the particular brand will treat your order as personal
thing. This promises the delivery of flowers along with your
feelings, emotions or intentions invested.