Tips for shopping for flowers online

It is now even easier and faster to send flowers using florists’ websites to coordinate your bouquet and deliver it on time.

Photo Credit: Paul Cowan
By Lawrence Sharp

Buying flowers online is becoming more of a popular practice for a variety of reasons. Online flower shops quickly and carefully deliver their goods all over the continent, and even worldwide, if you’re exploring all your options. They enable you to view pictures of bouquets, making the order process much easier than a phone transaction, and you can often pay instantly.

Shopping for flowers is actually a very simple process, as there are rarely major differences between the prices and services of one store or another. You are probably focusing, then, on a nice arrangement at an affordable price, which guarantees on-time delivery to the recipient. Use a search engine to find reviews of shops you are considering, to ensure that the service is top-notch, and settle on one that suits your needs.

Online purchases of flowers are very popular for those in long-distance relationships. If you are sending a bouquet to a sweetheart or friend in another country, there are a few things to keep in mind: the benefits of using a service native to the recipient’s country, as well as the currency conversion when looking at prices. If you’re in the U.S., remember when shopping a Canadian or Australian site that the dollar amounts will be very different after being converted. Use a website to determine the final price. Fortunately, most credit cards will work fine on international sites, and the amount will be converted and shown on your credit card statement the next month.

When sending a bouquet to another country, it is best to buy from a flower shop there rather than one native to you. You will save on expensive shipping as well as any danger of the flowers being damaged in transit or held in security. As tempting as it might be to use your favorite florist chain for your bouquet, it is simply safer and easier to look into foreign options, providing you speak the language(s) their websites are published in.

For local delivery, it’s best to consult websites of shops in your community before looking into a nationwide service. Again, this will save you some money on shipping, as well as expediting delivery. However, for exotic arrangements, use a search engine to locate a more distant shop that delivers all over. It basically comes down to what you are willing to pay for certain type of flower and how fast it will arrive. If you are presented with more than one shipping option (generally there will be only one), keep in mind that the flowers will wilt if they spend too long in transit!

One important thing to note when doing online shopping is that flower stores deliver more than just bouquets. Look at the site’s specials as well as its other products, such as candy or plush toys, to further personalize a gift or add a little extra surprise.

Ensure that you place your order several days before you want it to be delivered, so you will be certain that there will be no delay or lack of supply. You can also have the shop write a message from you on the bouquet card – there should be a field for it in the order form. Then, be prepared to print the receipt as confirmation of the order, and simply wait for the delivery – and that’s it! In a few days’ time, someone special will be the recipient of a personalized bouquet!