WAIT, hold the phone and don’t press ‘complete order’!
With the vast World Wide Web and E-commerce websites, ordering flowers for gatherings has never been easier—nor scarier! Wait, what do I mean? Sadly, the moral compass of some in the world is not the same as those who are planning to share their grief with others and brighten their day with some beautiful flowers. But wait, you say, “We live in Pierce County, not a big city like Minneapolis. We live in the Heartland of America; we Midwesterners are good.” Yep, I couldn’t agree more, and that’s why we need to discuss this further!
When you Google “florist near me” or “florist in your city of destination,” the wonderful World Wide Web will flood you with opportunities to buy flowers—or at least you think so. Some websites, called phishing, cloned, spoofed, or mirrored sites, are designed to trick you. Most are designed to gather your personal information, including your identity or billing information. For them, the beauty is they did not seek you out; you came to them and fell directly into their lap.
But let’s dig into why you are searching for a floral web provider.
Most people think, “Let’s cut out the middleman, and I won’t have to pay as much.” Win-win, right?
No, and here’s why.
Even if a site provides flowers, such as flowers.com, Avas, or Bloom Nation, they cannot provide flowers without the help of a local florist, or they have to ship flowers—usually over a couple of days. I even noticed one site that advertised a local florist with their logo and information! Pretty brazen, right?
So, let’s do some math. You want to order a sympathy bouquet for $150, and you order online.
First, the third party takes their share, then the website host, then FTD will take an amount if involved.
So, while you think you are sending a nice bouquet worth $150, in actuality, it is probably closer to $100 in value.
Although the flowers may have come from the town flower shop, they weren’t given $150; they were told $125, minus delivery and various fees. So, they are given a budget of $100—not your intended $150. Sounds like a perfect setup for disappointment, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because it is!
Now, let’s talk about another way your value can be diminished—even through funeral homes! Some funeral homes sell flowers through their websites as a convenience tool and as a way to make revenue. To each their own, but I refuse to do that, and here’s why. Flower shops in our small-town communities are part of our bedrock foundation. They are incredible people who not only provide flowers but also give back in ways that are few and far between. They make our galas dance with beautiful colors, support local nonprofit or school fundraisers, usually donate flowers, and sponsor events. They go to unbelievable lengths to bring sunshine and blooms to those who need a little brightening in their day.
I refuse to sell flowers through our website because when you do that, your local florist gets less in return. Why? Because the funeral home takes part of the pie, as does the website provider with their fees. Besides, if a funeral home business needs to skim money off floral orders, they do not have a good business model to begin with. So again, what you envision for value is far from what you spent!
One other request that we have as funeral homes is to let the flower shop handle the entire order. I completely understand the thinking that you could save $5 or $10 in delivery fees, but florists know when to bring orders. They have a schedule to get them there early and in plenty of time during our setup. This way, the family gets to see them when they arrive for the gathering, and your flowers will be placed in a nice location versus the back of a visitation, where they might not get as much traffic if you bring them in the middle of the gathering.
So, the bottom line is this: If your goal is to honor the family or deceased with beautiful flowers or a plant, go directly to your preferred flower shop. They will work within your budget, and you will get the value you originally sought when deciding to send flowers. Bob, Joni, and Shelly, to name a few, have been in the community for decades. Besides being amazing people, they genuinely care about your family and want to help you honor your loved one within your price range! They play an integral role in our community’s local business network. This is why we share local florists’ websites on our local links resource page on our website: www.oconnellfuneralhomes.com/local-links/. Buy local—you won’t regret it!
