Why We Call Ahead: The Key to Our 7-Day Flower Guarantee

Ever wonder why we insist on calling before a delivery? Seems everyone is delivering nowadays for client convenience. Most businesses that offer delivery services don’t call ahead, but we have some unique challenges that are specific to us that makes calling before we will deliver the best practice. The vast majority of businesses that deliver, whether Amazon or your local pizza joint, are all based on one commonality; the person ordering the product is the person that will receive it. Have you ever wondered how many of those that offer delivery do so directly to the client that ordered vs a third party?

Here are some key points to consider:

1. Food Delivery Services: Companies like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and SkipTheDishes deliver food directly to the customer almost exclusively. In this sector, the percentage of orders delivered directly to the customer is very high, likely above 95%.
2. E-commerce and Retail: Companies like Amazon, Walmart, and other online retailers typically deliver products directly to the customer's address, often exceeding 90%.
3. Grocery Delivery: Services like Instacart deliver groceries directly to the customer, and the percentage of direct deliveries in this sector is also very high.
4. Package and Courier Services: Companies like UPS, FedEx, and DHL most often deliver directly to the recipient.
5. Subscription Services: Subscription boxes for products like meal kits, beauty products, and personal care items are generally delivered directly to the subscriber.

Overall, most deliveries are made directly to the customer who placed the order. For most businesses that offer delivery this percentage is likely above 90%, which makes sense given the person ordering knows to expect a delivery and whether or not they will be home to receive said delivery.

For florists like us, the percentage of orders delivered to a third party is almost the exact opposite of most other business models. Floral deliveries are often gifts meant to be delivered to someone other than the person who placed the order.

Here are some insights specific to the floral delivery industry:

1. Gift Nature: A significant portion of floral orders are gifts for occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, funerals, and holidays. These are intended for recipients other than the person who placed the order.
2. Business Deliveries: Florists also handle orders for events such as weddings, corporate events, and parties, where flowers are delivered to venues or third-party locations.
3. Personal Use: While some customers do order flowers for personal use, such as home decoration or personal enjoyment, this represents a smaller portion of overall orders.

The percentage of orders delivered directly to the clients who placed the order is likely around 10-20%, with the remaining 80-90% being delivered to third parties and this is certainly true for us at The BloomBox. That’s a massive number of people who do not know to expect a delivery or to plan to be at home and available for a time window.

This results in a few challenges for our business that we have mitigated with policies specific to us. For example, unless the order is going to a business, we need the recipient’s phone number. We do this so we can contact whomever is receiving the order and confirm that we have the correct address. This helps us make sure we aren’t handling the flowers any more than necessary or exposing them to heat, cold, or wind needlessly, all of which can be very harmful and is key in us being able to offer a 7 day guarantee on our flowers.

The second reason for calling before delivery is maybe even more important; that someone will be home. As mentioned earlier, weather can be extremely harmful for flowers, from burning them in the sun to freezing in the cold or damage from wind, so it’s imperative that someone is available to receive the flowers. It’s common to find that the recipient will be away for hours or even days, so leaving our product on the step without speaking to a recipient is not an option. People are busy, so we do our best to work around their schedule. Gone for a week, no problem! We’ll make you a fresh bouquet upon your return and deliver it to for you at that time.

Safety is always a concern too, so a quick call beforehand allows us to inform the recipient we will be stopping by and gives them a chance to let us know about any hazards on their property such as an icy walkway or maybe a protective pet. There is also on occasion a recipient address where there may be someone home but they will not answer the door for anyone they are not expecting and we want to respect those wishes. Our delivery shouldn’t be a source of anxiety or concern for anyone.

To sum up, we need to call every delivery based on the majority being destined for a third party because our industry is different than the majority. It’s a good practice overall for many reasons, from the quality of the product received to safety, and we promise they will still be surprised to receive a gift from you created by us!

Shaun