The London Flower Boutique

Website Links

Description

In the Internet Age, nothing seems easier than ordering flowers online. You simply locate an online florist, place your order and within a few hours, your fresh, beautiful flowers are delivered to your home, office or to a special friend. By all appearances, this is how the system operates. In reality, there are a few things about online florists that consumers should know. This guide to online ordering is presented in order to help you make informed decisions about ordering flowers online and the importance of working with a local florist for all of your floral needs. What Is A Local Florist? It may sound like a silly question, but it's not. A local florist is a business owner who lives and works in your community. The florist owns a store, or perhaps a set of stores, within driving distance of your home, or the home of someone to whom you intend to send flowers. A local florist employs professional designers, assistants and delivery people, who also live and work in your community. When it comes down to it, local florists fulfill your online order. They design and create the arrangements you order and deliver them to your intended recipient. They provide valuable services, and helpful, friendly advice about ordering flowers, live plants and non-living floral arrangements. They're a local resource because they are familiar with the area hospitals, businesses, nursing homes, funeral homes, and the streets in the communities in which they live and work. They answer questions, solve problems and deliver the service you want and need when ordering floral arrangements. They advertise flowers for sale in television commercials and in online advertising. They seem reputable. They have "local" outlets in every city in the country. They have nice Web sites. They even have 800-numbers. There's just one problem. They don't have any flowers! Among genuine florists, these online entities are known as "Order Gatherers" because frankly, that's the only thing they do. What Is The Impact of an Order Gatherer On A Local Florist? The Order Gatherers forward your order to a genuine local florist for fulfillment. For their part, they retain a significant portion of the money you've paid for your flowers, leaving the local florist with little ability to operate his or her business, contact the customer, or provide the level of service that professional florists offer. Local florists are small businesses. They are negatively impacted by Order Gatherers, who return very little to the florists they depend upon to maintain their veneer of "customer service." Unfortunately, many local florists cannot operate profitably in these circumstances, and choose to exit the floral business altogether. What Is The Impact of an Order Gatherer On A Customer? Order Gatherers often attempt to make their Web sites appear to belong to a local business when they don't. These "local" Web sites are fronts, which redirect the unsuspecting customer to the Order Gatherer's main site.

Products & services

Similar companies nearby