If you type Houston, Tx and florist into any search engine, can you tell which of those are true local florists with a brick and mortar store and who is just pretending to be local?? Currently over half of those who appear to be local are really order gatherers.
What is Order Gathering?
The term 'order gatherer' was coined several years ago to describe floral service marketers, both real and virtual, that aggressively promote the sale of flower arrangements and related gifts which they intend to broker to local florists for fulfillment, primarily via affiliations with national florist wire services. Some of the common order gathering companies are ProFlowers, FTD, and 1800Flowers.
Why Local Florists Oppose Most Forms of Order Gathering?
Real local florists' concerns about some of the order gatherers' commonly used advertising practices occur on several counts including:
•the use of misleading ad titles and text that confuse consumers by featuring specific city names - when the order gatherers do not operate local flower shops that directly service the locations and where their sites or print ads fail to clearly inform consumers as to how these orders are 'serviced.'
•the use of the phrase 'we delivery to' when the brokers only 'relay to' or 'forward to' local florists for fulfillment, implying a service which they do not provide.
•the failure to itemize and explain all fees to consumers, making price comparisons difficult.
•the fraudulent claiming of 'free delivery.'
•the failure to inform consumers that delivery charges will be deducted from the value of dollars sent to local florists.
The average 'service fee' of $11.00 USD, a privilege fee charged just for forwarding orders to local florists, boosts the cost to consumers, giving the appearance that florist-delivered flowers are higher priced than they need be.
Local florist end up getting the blame when your husband tells you he spent over $75, and you are not happy with your small bouquet.
Let us break down a $75 bouquet ordered from an order gatherer versus your local florist:
ORDER GATHERER $75 BOUQUET: $11 average service fee, about $5 tax, leaving $59 for the bouquet. They will advertise free delivery, but when the order finally arrives to the local florist, they will still deduct a delivery fee of about $7 leaving $52 for your bouquet.
LOCAL FLORIST $75 BOUQUET: about $7 delivery fee, about $5 tax, your bouquet will be $63
Also, if you pick out a picture from a website or selection guide, your local florist will be able to immediately tell you what flowers and containers are currently available. When a local florist fills an order for an order gatherer, they are allowed to substitute flowers and containers as necessary and are not required to let you know ahead of time.
At Enchanted Florist, you can check us out 24/7 online at www.EnchantedFloristPasadena.com or at our actual store at
2519 Strawberry Rd Pasadena, TX 77502
(713)944-4303
Much of this information has come from the very informative website
www.floristdetective.com so feel free to visit their website for more information on deceptive ads including comparisons to actual order gatherers.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
We have a new and exciting product in at Enchanted Florist that we using with a twist. New in store are insulated lunch totes. Of course we are using them to make gift baskets and gourmet baskets, but we are also using them as plant covers. This reduces basket use, and many people throw the baskets away if the plant dies later. But in addition to this, our totes are made from recycled water bottles.
A few plastic water bottle facts:
Americans buy an estimated 29.8 billion plastic water bottles every year.
Nearly eight out of every 10 bottles will end up in a landfill.
Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for up to six hours.
We also try do do our part and recycle in other ways. We reuse vases and baskets that customers bring in, we reuse cardboard boxes of all sizes as much as possible, some of our glass vases are made out of recycled materials, we plan our delivery routes to cut down on gas and emissions, and keep our spoilage of fresh products to a minimum.
It's important that every person and business do their part and try their hardest to keep waste to a minimum!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Rainbow Roses
Rainbow roses are exactly what they sound like, a colorful box of crayons all built into one rose. And yes, they are real but can only be purchased cut or dried, no rose bushes just yet. Each one is different. They are just one of the new and exciting creations developed in the last few years, new technology just doesn't include computers anymore.
They were designed by Peter Van de Werken, who owns a flower company close to Den Bosch in southern Holland. They are made by inserting dye into the stem of the roses while still growing, resulting in the colors being absorbed by the petals of the rose. They are difficult to make and are slightly higher than traditional roses.
People either love them or hate them, and they go over great with Gen X. We are carrying them in our store now on a regular basis and can add them to any floral bouquet we make, just ask! We also send them out as a dozen long stem roses in a vase. But no matter how we fix them up, it's rave reviews from the recipients of the very special roses.
Call us now or visit our website to place your order today!
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