Anaheim CA Flowers by Avante Gardens Florist
07 May 2008

Mother's Day Flowers: Comparison Shopping

Readers of our blog know I've long urged shoppers to go local and buy direct when ordering flowers.  You'll get the absolutely best gift delivery value dollar-for-dollar.

In case you still don't believe me, watch this consumer report from Washington DC's NBC4: Mother's Day Flowers. The reporter compared $50 in flowers from ProFlowers.com, 1-800-Flowers.com, FTD.com, OrganicBouquet.com and a local Washington DC Florist, Greenworks. 

The bouquets were judged by shoppers at a local mall and by overwhelming majority, the Greenworks arrangement was chosen best. (As a quick aside, the company coming in dead last doesn't like it when people report about the shortfalls of their products. They recently sent a couple local florists a cease and desist for writing about their dealings with the company. The story of ProFlowers' reputation management can be found on FloristDetective.com.)    

Local Florist ValueSimilar comparison results were seen in a recent test made by NBC's Weekend Today: Tricks of the Trade - What Your Florist Won't Tell You.  Two bouquets costing $50.00 - the one from the local florist on the left and the one through a 'national' online-only company on the right - say it all. 

And the title of the piece is ironic since this is exactly the kind of information we local florists really want consumers to know.

It's not too late to send Mother's Day flowers and still get a great value. If your Mom lives in our Anaheim or Orange County delivery area, we hope you'll give us a call or order online.

If she lives out of our delivery area, I recommend using Google Maps. Type in your mom's address and click 'Search Nearby' on the pop-up balloon. Type 'florist' in the box and you'll get a list of local stores - many with user reviews, links to online ordering and business hours details. Then you can know what'll be delivered and save up to $20 in unneeded service charges from a national company.  

But no matter how you order, don't forget Mom.

 

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Comments

# Anne Peacock said:

I'm glad someone feels the way I do about wire services.  The only reason why I have one is to wire out flowers or give people an idea of what to order because they are afraid to do "Designer's Choice".  In all actuality, Designer's Choice usually gives you more bang for the buck!  I have a friend that has 6 wire services hoping that she'll pick up customers from them.  All she's doing is making them rich, giving herself way too much busy work, and she'll never get the customer because they will call teleflora or 1-800-flowers instead of her!  

14 May 08 at 8:22 PM
# Jenn said:

We Just cancelled FTD, and it was the best decision we could have made for our customers and staff!

Wire services are a marketing scam that steals resources from florists, and money from consumers, making one more corporation overfed and underwhelming.

21 July 08 at 12:57 AM
# garrisonhill said:

We are having the same problem here. Now Pro Flowers delivers to our funeral homes.  I can't imagine what the sender thinks of  the flowers when they see them. (Boy it was nice to save a couple of bucks?)

08 August 08 at 8:50 AM
# Winnipeg Florist said:

Love the post and the previous comments.  Hopefully we can all spread the word on this one.  http://thefloristblog.dragonflyflowers.com

24 September 08 at 6:10 PM

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