When Sending Flowers; Are You Getting Your Value?
The hardest thing for a consumer to understand is value perception when purchasing online flowers. As a general rule, a consumer only has a few items to go by; a picture, a price, and a description. Today’s article is going to focus on what you get, for what you pay when buying online. We will break down who makes what in the process of your online purchase and why the consumer often walks away with less. We will start by showing you pictures of online designs from various vendors at the same price level as the vendor’s names removed. We will offer a price break down as it relates to labor, delivery, containers, and stems. We will offer you the profit margins on who is really making the money. You may be shocked!
Special note: All of these designs are one-sided designs to offer a perception of value to the consumer. The photographs are being produced by a professional photographer under strict lighting conditions.
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$39.99 – Break down of Item 2
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Delivery $9.99
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$9.99
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Labor 25% after delivery
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$7.50
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Container –Glass vase ,rocks, ribbon
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$10.00
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Amount left for Flowers
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$12.50
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Calls for 6 daisy stems @ $1.50 each
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$9.00
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Calls for 3 roses at $3.99 each
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$12.00
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Calls for 3 stems lilies at $5.00 each
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$15.00
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Salal foliage & wax flowers at $7.00
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$7.00
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In the scenario of item 2, the sale price is $39.99. After the delivery, container & labor, only $12.50 is remaining for the florist to complete the design. It calls for $43.00 in flowers as shown on their website. As a result, the florist will be forced to short stem the design in order to remain profitable. The difference is them not forwarding the delivery fee of $10 & underpricing the design to guarantee a sale. Had they kept the delivery fee & priced properly, the florist would have had enough to complete the design as pictured. Instead, the client receives only one-fourth of the product recipe.
To test this scenario, we urge you to copy and paste this design into an email and forward it to any five US-wide local florists, in various regions. Ask them if they can complete it for $39.99 to include a $10 delivery in the $39.99 price. Let them know that you expect the exact stem counts and flowers that the design calls for, color substitution allowed.
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Below is an example of how the profit share works out and is an example of a real order that I shared with you in Article 1. “Consumers and Florists are scammed”. This is what happened to a consumer purchasing from a Call-Center just after Mothers Day.
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Glass Vase With Roses, Lilies, Daisies
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Total cost
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Call
Center
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Wire Service
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Florist
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Order Value & Amount To Florist
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$80.96
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$39.99
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Percentage Of Order Paid
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20% (7.99)
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7% (2.80)
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73% (29.19)
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Rebate received
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$6 – $7
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0
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Order fee
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$0.00
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$1.50
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-$1.50
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Order Fee
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Delivery Fee
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$10.99
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-9.99
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Delivery
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Expedited Delivery Charge
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$14.99
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-$4.17
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COGS
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Order Service fee
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$10.99
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-$7.50
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Labor
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Total Profit After all Fee & Costs
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$50.96
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$4.60
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$6.04
$-4.12
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If to Order Value
If to Recipe/Picture
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As you can clearly see the Call Center charged a delivery fee and charges an expedited delivery fee to guarantee that the order would be delivered the same day. They kept both fees plus the convenient service fee for shopping online. We received a total of $39.99 to work with; oblivious to the other charges the consumer was charged. Our suggestion is that you be aware of where all the money is going.
That same design if ordered locally would have only cost the client$49.98 with same-day delivery, and a complete value for the amount spent. They would not have been shorted stems; the design would have been all the way around and full, not one-sided and skimpy.
Our next Article will speak exactly about this subject, why should you shop locally? We will offer insight for the reasoning to use your local florist vs. a call center or a wire-service company.
Please post your comments, questions, and article you would like to see. We promise to respond. As always, thank you for supporting your local Central Ohio Florist when buying Columbus Flowers.
