Why Free Delivery is Never Really "Free"

As Canadian florists, we always seem to be chasing the "big boys" when it comes to retailing.

Sorry Mom & Pop shop, but we're never going to compete with Amazon.ca!

It's one thing for mega stores to offer the enticement of free delivery, but local florists don't operate with the same profit margins or method of doing business.

Mega stores utilize FedEx, UPS, or Canada Post to make their deliveries. If somebody is not home, the door either gets tagged and the recipient has to pick up the product at their depot, or the product is left on the doorstep. They tried...not home...too bad so sad.

Flower shops like Simon Says Roses hand deliver their product. We offer personalized service, whether your flower delivery is across the street or nationally for Canada flower delivery. Can you imagine leaving a Xmas centrepiece on the porch, when its minus 20 outside?.

Ever seen a "flowersicle"?

Local flower shops hire local people, who either provide their own vehicles or drive a company delivery van. There is the cost of gas, oil, insurance, and depreciation to be considered. Wages, Worker's Comp, EI, & CPP all take a cut. We're not talking "chicken feed" here...the costs add up.

To minimize these costs as much as possible, delivery drivers usually try to schedule two delivery runs a day, to deliver the maximum flower orders on each delivery run.

Rural deliveries and timed deliveries create their own sets of problems. Imagine sending out a driver on an hour long round trip...for only ONE order! It's not like you can divide the cost among 10 other orders.

Or how about the delivery that has to be there EXACTLY at 12:00 noon? The driver likely has to make a special trip for that one order, to make certain they are on time.

And volume...what volume? The big boys deliver hundreds if not thousands of orders each day. Your local florist may deliver 10-20 on a normal day...80-100 when things get busy around Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

But still, some florists feel they have to compete with the free delivery "hook". But free delivery is never really free.

Here's a screen shot of a page title that I recently found:

Really? FREE DELIVERY? Sounds fantastic, until you actually go to the site...only to find that each & every product is priced at $10.00 over other florists in the area. Free delivery...or just padded prices? I can only guess...

But there is one thing that a local florist can do that a mega store CAN'T.

Because we're networked across Canada and the U.S., we offer same day delivery if the order is in before noon. Imagine a custom, hand-crafted flower arrangement, hand-delivered on the same day that it is ordered. For delivery to the other side of Canada.

Try that, Amazon!