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the only thing "we deliver to ALL places in Russia, FSU" as the only or main reason for ordering - think "they are outdated"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. |
