Find Your It’s no secret, flowers are big business during Valentine’s Day. It and Mother’s Day are two of the biggest floral holidays florists look forward to every year. Except..
… things are changing in the floral industry: The price of roses practically doubles during major holidays, cutting into profits. There are groups that advertise heavily for $19.99 flowers, which are drop-shipped in a box. There are even those out there that have stooped low enough to buy fake Google Ads in a local florists’ name saying ‘Sold Out For Valentines Day’ without the florist being aware of it.
And then we have the big floral networks who say they support local florists, but instead advertise exceedingly low prices and take a large cut for each arrangement passed to florists, on top of large annual membership fees.
Can you imagine owning your own business only to have someone else dictate what your prices and overhead must be?
Shops do have the option to reject orders and ask for more money, but often they are penalized with fees that range from $10-$100, in addition to time busy florists do not have to spare.
Why do shops participate in these draining networks?
Many multi-generational florists see these big, e-commerce groups as something they cannot survive without (before the internet, this was probably true). Some see it as a way to reach customers they might not be able to on their own.
From the article, Why florists now dread Valentine’s Day (CNNMoney):
“Half the florists don’t realize they’re losing money with this stuff,” said Steve Juiffre, a florist in South Burlington, Vt. who is part of Florists for Change, a group formed to educate fellow shop owners about the potential pitfalls.
“I was able to get new customers. But you can’t make any money. They make all the money,” said David Rohr, a florist in Cathedral City, CA. He quit Teleflora after Valentine’s Day in 2002, when he lost more than $2,000 that day as business costs and network fees overtook his revenue from delivery orders.
What’s most bothersome to Betsy Hall, a florist just outside Atlanta, Ga., is what happens to customers. “[Wire services] take such a huge cut. The money you spend isn’t in flowers,” she said. “You spend $70 on a $26 bouquet.” She also said customers who use e-commerce sites pay more and receive less than if they’d simply contact the local florist in the city where they’d want the flowers delivered.
Consumers: Get What You Pay For On Mother’s Day
To make sure you are getting what you pay for on Mother’s Day, simply go directly to your local florist to place the order.
If you don’t know your local florist, Flower Shop Network was created by florists and designed to protect consumers from the deceptions of order gatherers. Use our handy local florist finder to find a real flower shop any where in the US or Canada next time you are ordering flowers.
We verify all florists in our directory have a physical location and are able to serve in the cities where they are listed. It only takes a few minutes and will ensure your Mother’s Day flowers are just the way you want them.
FSN never takes a % or cut from any order.
Florists: Get On Track Before Mother’s Day
So how can florists keep up with the changes in the industry? Eliminating excess fees, charges and unwanted overhead is a great way to start. And why not when all of the tools florists are used to with big wire services are now accessible with Flower Shop Network?
FSN member florists gain access to a host of marketing and promotional tools and resources just-for-florists, plus are entered into our florist-to-florist sending program and national local florist directory. We also provide hassle-free, e-commerce websites tailored to fit a flower shop’s needs.
Florists keep 100% of all incoming customer orders and florists-to-florist transfers are divided 80%/20% between florists (unlike the 70%/30% industry average). FSN does not take a % from florist orders. All with absolutely no monthly fees and we mail your checks out weekly.
FSN is here to help florists to prosper in this industry once again.
As one of our member florists, Petal Pushers/Christopher’s Flowers, posted recently on our Facebook page, “First year with no wire services as well!!! We love our FSN website!!! All profit for us and a big ZERO to the wire services who take from us not help us!!”
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