Flowers work as a gift for almost any occasion, good or bad. You can send people flowers for their birthday, anniversary, retirement and any other joyous occasion. People also send flowers when there is a death in the family or when people may be down for another reason, such as a job loss, medical issue or relationship breakup.
Americans spend more than $26 billion a year on flowers, which means being a florist is big business. The holiday season surrounding Christmas and Hanukkah is the biggest season for flowers, but Valentine’s Day is the biggest single business day for flower shops. They get about one-third of their fresh flower purchases on this day and about 40% of their overall dollar volume.
One of the questions you have to ask yourself when you are looking to buy flowers for someone is do you go with a local florist or is it OK to go with a national one? There are, of course, pros and cons to each option.
When you work with a local florist, you are supporting a local business, which can help the local economy and also make you feel good. Local florists may also have valuable knowledge that you can’t get when working with a national florist.
On the other hand, using a national florist for your flower delivery needs does have some advantages over using your local florist. For one thing, when you go through a national florist, it usually just places the order for you through a local florist, so you still are giving business to a local company. National florists also may give you a cheaper price because of higher volume and the fact that floral shops compete to fill the order at the lowest price. Another advantage to using a national florist is convenience. Instead of trying to find a local florist to use, you just put in your order online or over the phone, pay with a credit card and the rest is taken care of for you. This can be especially convenient for you if you are sending flowers to someone who lives in a different city.
Either way you go — with a local florist or a national one — you likely can’t go wrong. In both cases you will get your floral order filled and delivered, and you will brighten the day of a loved one with flowers.
