Real Florists Blog by FlowerChat

Want to look like an official, authoritative local florist while sitting behind your desk thousands of miles away? Just add the federal registered trademark symbol - ® - to your Google Adwords ad titles and viola! you can be local without bothering with rent, employees or any of that other costly local stuff.

Just in time from Valentine's Day, FlowersUSA.com, a web site owned and operated by FTD, has begun running ads targeting local searches for florists in communities across the US. The ads claim the company holds federal registered trademarks for an array of local names:

Today, a Google search for "Irvine Florist" shows:

A search for "Tempe florist" displays:

Because according to a 1800Flowers.com customer service rep, pink is out of season.

Blogger, the Trading Goddess, wanted to send pink flowers and ordered a "Florist Select European Hand Tied Bouquet", relying on the product photo to make her purchasing decision. (It displayed a mixed pink and white bouquet wrapped in pink paper.)  

While the bouquet description mentions "Components will vary", it's hardly clear that the colors will be chosen by the delivering local florist, too.

The Trading Goddess summarizes the frustrating conversation with CSR 'Dora' during her complaint call to 1-800-Flowers:

"I told her how important the color pink was, and solely due to the photo on their website, was the reason I choose this bouquet. I told Dora that I would have purchased the larger bouquets if they had the pink pic that went along with the description, which it did not. There was only the "small" choice for the color pink.

Well, Dora repeatedly told me that the description says "Florist Select" and that means their choice of color. She repeatedly said that they choose from the flowers that are in season and that the pink was not in season."

The testy exchange between the shopper and CSR rep is reminiscent of other customer service run-arounds with 1800flowers.com.

I'm guessing that company will fix the product description to make is clear that color choice isn't an option, but they also need to work on training the CSR's to stop blaming customers and giving out lame excuses for why the flowers don't look like the picture.

Honestly, every professional florist knows that pink is only out of season in October. ;) 

This post is third in a series. See Why Your Flowers Don't Look Like the Picture - Part 1 and Why Your Flowers Don't Look Like the Picture - Part 2 for more details about avoiding disappointment when ordering flowers online.

Discussions about how Google has been dealing with paid links have raged on for months in the webmaster community. I'm late to the topic but wanted to add my thoughts on the issue and how it effects local flower shops before the year end.

Google's head of search spam, Matt Cutts, explained how selling posts and links that pass page rank can distort results and can place less-than-helpful entries above pages more relevant to a query.  Google instructs webmasters to handle paid links, both in ads and in editorial content, as follows:

Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:

- Adding a rel="nofollow" attribute to the <a> tag
- Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file

and urges webmasters to report paid links via the Google Webmaster Tools console.

A couple webmasters involved in the floral industry jumped into the debate and offered differing opinions on the devaluing of paid links. Back in November, Mark McFall of Vital SEO Marketing published about how paid text link schemes were being used by the three largest flower sellers in the US to seemingly manipulate search results. He's right. Those links are and should be worthless. Thanks for the good sleuthing, Mark.

Infinite (RKF), working with both florists and the medical community, weighed in with a comment on Aaron Wall's SEO Book blog about how paid research in the medical field was just as manipulative to Google's users as paid links. While he and others opposed to new devaluations have a point, my own experience with watching how paid links and posts have distorted SERPs about flowers and florists puts me firmly on the 'clean it up' side.

I remember a few years ago filing a spam report about a site that was at or near the top of results for virtually every city in the US for a query "city name+ florist". Interestingly enough, the site wasn't even located in the US and was primarily propelled to the top of all those searches via a text link ad in an English version of an Asian news site - a PR 8. 

The next month, another affiliate marketer of flowers, no dummies they, bought an ad, too - with slightly different anchor text. The following month, a third affiliate reseller floral site joined the group and in short order, the three sites - all with directory style navigation full of city-specific pages - were on page 1 for many US communities.  My spam report asked why paid links were so trusted as to push those affiliates past the brick & mortar businesses.  I don't recall the news site specifically selling page rank, but the effect was the same. Few visitors to that site would be interested in sending so many flowers as to justify the hefty link price.

And of course, it was an affiliate flower seller site that first got outed for using pay-per-post.

Paid links have been one of the top methods for affiliate resellers, order gatherers, to place well for local city queries. Since the affiliates have no relevance geographically, and therefore would be unlikely to receive organic links for specific towns, they've generally need to buy their way in. Effective paid links have long been a heck of a lot cheaper that Adwords for competitive terms that include 'flowers' and 'florists'. 

Who's my link hero? Eric Ward. I don't think he won any popularity contests from the chattering class during the link devaluation period with this post:  

Selling paid links... If you haven't yet read it, see Danny (Sullivan's) article here. Now, can we all try to agree on one core concept: It's Google's engine, they can do whatever the hell they want with it. Please stop the Google-is-evil talk. They are the best thing that ever happened to those who create really good content, and the worst nightmare to content and link spammers. I've yet to find anyone who works white-hat who thinks Google is evil. For those of us who pursue a very specific type of link building for a very specific type of content, Google rewards us handsomely with higher rankings for our clients. For those that dabble in the dark linking arts, it's your own fault. Face up to it, or stay happy that at least you can still spam Livesearch.

He's the kind of guy that writes about helping non-profits with their link building pro bono simply because their content deserves to be found. Would that the floral industry as a whole have as much passion for good links as Mr. Ward.

Instead, the majority of authority sites and quality directories in our industry don't even openly link to local florists. The few that do either place the links behind password protected areas or use intermediate pages that don't pass pagerank at all. Most say 'they're working on it' but after four years of pleading, I'm not too hopeful. *sigh*

It's no wonder paid links have been so effective in the flower business with the associations and companies in positions to share organic link love continuing to hoard it. And the funny thing is that many of the links that help make them authorities come from those brick and mortar florists.

Here's hoping 2008 is the 'Year of the Link' for local florists. Why not start today by linking to one of your favorite local flower shops?

Take a look at this new animated video from florist services start-up HonestFlorists.com as it humorously addresses what happens to flowers shipped in boxes from fictional ProcessedFlowers.com, 'fresh from the grower'.

It's certainly a clever way to show what happens to boxed, shipped flowers and to get the attention of the florist community. 

According to the website, the full array of services from HonestFlorists.com will be unveiled in January. With a start like this, I expect they'll be great interest in both their products and services.  

With six shopping days left until Christmas, there's still plenty of time to have a unique holiday flower gift hand crafted and delivered by a local florist.

FlowerChat members shared some of their original floral design offerings last week and another set of photos from a flower shop in Barnegat, NJ, The Rose Garden Florist, was added a few days ago. Actually - two sets.

The first depicts some unique-to-the-store bouquets including this arrangement of Wintry Roses described as a "sweet fragrant treat, for your best holiday wishes!" It features red and bi-color roses, carnations, pines and gilded foliages casually designed in a festive crimson vase.

The second set, featured in a blog post, shows a step-by-step series of photographs of Rose Garden Florist making one of their custom Christmas Tabletop Trees.  It's a fun, inside look into the design process of recreating a bit of nature - and then decorating it to reflect a customer's perfect holiday theme.  

I think you'll agree that the resulting cherubic Victorian tree would make an outstanding, memorable gift for this Christmas season.

And remember - custom designs like these are available only through your local professional florists. 

Across the US and Canada, local florists are creating unique and original floral designs to deck the halls this Christmas season. Below is a sampling of arrangements, centerpieces and flower gifts for the 2007 holidays avaiable from local florists.

From Central Square Florist - Cambridge & Boston, MA

A holiday tree centerpiece of boxwood and pine decorated with ribbons, pine cones, berries, carnations and spray chrysanthemums. Delivered in a red tin container, this festive and long-lasting arrangement is a Central Square Florist original.

Available for delivery in the Boston Metro area. 

From Twigs Florist of Yerington, NV

Enchanting and elegant red Christmas Roses are delivered arranged with icy branches,Christmas greens, pine cones and a swirl of glittery sheer ribbon.

Available for delivery in Yerington and the Mason Valley.

From Everyday Flowers of Tustin, CA

This Glittering Christmas design arrives in a wooden container with lisianthus, cymbidium orchids, roses. miniature apples, cut limes and lemons, hypericum and pine cones.

You can watch their talented designers create these special flower treats on YouTube.

Available for delivery in Tustin and Orange County, CA.

From Chez Bloom of St. Louis Park and Minneapolis, MN

Glittering frosted birch branches with plum and purple Orchids, Hydrangea and Calla Lilies make this Sugar Plum vase arrangement a dreamy gift.

Available for delivery in Minneapolis and surrounding towns.

From Oberer's Florist of Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus, OH

A nature inspired Deer Centerpiece that brings woodland enchantment indoors for the Christmas season. This unique and long lasting design features poinsettias, pinecones, twigs, berries, faux apples and fragrant cinnamon sticks.

Available for delivery in Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and western & central Ohio cities.

From Avante Gardens - florals unique of Anaheim, CA

A long-lasting holiday arrangement of Christmas Orchids featuring imported white dendrobiums, cedar, pine and faux red berries designed in a heavy oval vase and accented with black gem stones.

Available for delivery in Anaheim and most of Orange County, CA

This holiday season, Real Florists remind you to choose your local florist for all your flower needs. You'll not only save $13 - $20 in unnecessary service and handling fees, you'll received fresh and unique hand-delivered gifts with no assembly required.

A lot of holiday entertaining takes place around the dining room table, so one of the most popular floral design types for Christmas is the centerpiece. A centerpiece is defined as:

Something in a central position, especially a decorative object or arrangement placed at the center of a table.

But there's an issue with some of the centerpiece photos on 1800Flowers.com - if local florists who make these orders follow the recipes provided by 1-800-Flowers, the guests seated on one side of your table will see this:

And the friends and family seated on the other side of the table may see something like this:

The next time you see a flower arrangement picture online that looks like this:

...but end up with this:

...you'll know why after watching this video:

Some assembly required indeed.

Kudos to the team at Beneva for capturing the experience of receiving boxed flowers and for adding the tagline: Next time you are looking to send flowers, call your local florist, NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.

According to Information Week, the "most effective way of luring customers" is to offer "Free Shipping".  How porwerful is "Free Shipping"?   Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, said in a statement, "Free shipping offers drive online sales more than any other promotion, which is why they remain popular with retailers." 

The problem with using "free delivery" or "free shipping" with local florist-delivered flowers sold by 'online only' companies, affiliate marketers, is it's just not true. Per their agreements with florist wire services, local florists are obligated to fill orders for the same value they would their local customers. They deduct their local delivery fees from orders received through florist wire services, and then fill to full value. 

Many "online only" florists display floral arrangement prices with added dollars for delivery combined into the prices displayed on their websites, and then charge an additional service charge (which they keep) to transfer each order to a local florist. FTD.com does it. Teleflora.com does it. ProFlowers.com's same-day delivery does it. 1800Flowers.com does it, too.  

But now 1800Flowers.com, with nearly a $1 Billion in annual sales, is advertising to consumers that the discounting of their "service fee" on local florist orders is 'free shipping", and local florists have turned to the US Federal Trade Commission for help.

This week, more than 100 independent local florists signed and sent the following letter to the FTC requesting an urgent investigation into the advertising of "free shipping' claims by 1800Flowers.com:

Ms. Mary K. Engle
Associate Director
Division of Advertising Practices
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, NJ-3223
Washington, DC 20580

Dear Ms. Engle:

On behalf of professional local florists from across the United States, we are writing to you concerning the veracity of the labeling of 'shipping charge' and the claim of 'free shipping' made by affiliate marketer 1800FLOWERS.COM on floral products sold to be fulfilled and delivered by local florists. Upon careful evaluation of several online advertisements, we the undersigned, believe that 1800FLOWERS.COM, Inc. is in violation of Title 15 U.S.C. Chapter 2, Subchapter 1, Section 52) "Dissemination of False Advertising".

In both online advertisements and during checkout of online purchases, 1800FLOWERS.COM labels their local-florist-delivered product service charges or handling fees as 'Shipping Charges', but there is no 'shipping' involved in the delivery of the products.

These items, displayed on 1800FLOWERS.COM as 'Available Same-Day', are hand delivered by local florists and 1800FLOWERS.COM, Inc. bundles an additional local delivery fee in with the product prices displayed to consumers. The company's contract with local florist affiliates, under the 1800FLOWERS.COM subsidiary BloomNet, states "all prices include up to $7.99 charge for delivery". (Attachment 1, Attitude, 5.)

We believe the labeling of the service charge as 'shipping charge', both in advertisements and in 1800FLOWERS.COM's online shopping cart, is material to consumers making purchasing decisions. Most consumers assume that a certain amount of "shipping fee" is reasonable and they expect a "shipping fee" or "delivery fee" will be added to online purchases. If the label were correctly called "service fee" or "handling fee" and the bundled local delivery charge disclosed, we believe consumers would question the purchases.

By advertising "free shipping", 1800FLOWERS.COM doubly deceives consumers, first by mislabeling a "service fee" as a more acceptable "shipping fee"; and second by offering "free shipping" to imply the delivery charge is waived, when in fact it is not.

All of the items displayed on the November 15, 2007 "Free Shipping" page of 1800FLOWERS.COM are local florist delivered products. (Attachment 2) None of the items are 'shipped' via common carrier like FedEx or UPS.

We respectfully ask that the FTC seek an immediate temporary restraining order to stop this advertising campaign, which has already begun.

We believe consumers are wrongly diverted by this misleading labeling and advertising and urge the Federal Trade Commission to investigate these claims. It is important to the public and to local businesses that national affiliate marketers of floral products adhere to the guidelines and standards for truth and accuracy in advertising.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Catherine Hillen-Rulloda, Owner
Avante Gardens - florals unique
Anaheim, CA

Heather Taulbee-McIntyre
Felicity Flowers & Gifts
Felicity, OH

Cheryl Ann Bakin, President
Parkway Florist Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA

Mark M Smith, Owner
Smith's of Midland INC
Midland MI

Patricia Gaylor, Owner
The Daisy Petal, Inc.
Hazel Park, MI

Rhonda Little, Owner
Millinocket Floral Shop
Millinocket, ME

Sue Payne, Joint  owner
New Leaf Flower and Plant Shop
Poplar Bluff, MO

Ted Robinson, President
Visser's Florist & Greenhouses
Anaheim, CA

Susan Kenny Mendelsohn, Owner
Hollyhocks Flowers and Gifts, Inc.
St. Louis, MO

Lori Kunian, Owner
Affairs to Remember
Melrose, MA

Eric Shaw, Owner
Everyday Flowers
Tustin, CA

Sandra Levine, Owner
Central Square Florist, Inc.
Cambridge, MA

Tammy Youngblood, Owner
Ivy Cottage Florist
Columbus, MI

Kathleen Dudley, Owner
The Bloomery, Inc.
Butler, PA

Bert Davenport
Avenue Gardens Florist
Wilson, NC

Richard Seekins, President
The Flower Place Inc
Fountain Valley, CA

Melissa Mega, Owner
The Ivy Green Floral Shoppe
Washington, PA

Roger Thernelius
Branching Out - the Florist
Lincroft, NJ

Glenn Yenulis, Owner
Especially For You, Inc.
Hoover, AL

Ricky W. King AIFD, SCCPF, NCCPF
Freelance Designer
Swansea, SC

Julie A. Rimm, Proprietor
JulieAnn's Floral & Gift Shoppe
Contoocook, NH

Tom Carlson
Fairview Florist
Janesville, WI

Linda Ludwig, Vice President
Blumengarten Florist
Pittsburgh, PA

Bob Michaels, Owner
Silver Fox Florist
Sterling Heights, MI

Connie Baker. Owner
Powdersville Wren Florist
Piedmont, SC

Cassandra Ching, Owner
Monarch Florist
Mission Viejo, CA

Jenny Thomas
Oak Hill Florist
Scarborough, ME

Jerry Richey, Owner
Jeremiah's Gardens & Floral
Genoa, IL

Jenny Bialas, Owner
Special Occasions
Milford, NE

Tracy & Michael D'Amico, Owners
Rose Garden Florist
Barnegat, NJ

Darla L. Barr, Manager
Dick Adgate Florist
Warren, OH

Aimee Lindh, President
Jacques Flower Shop, Inc.
Manchester, NH

Kimberley Kinion, Owner
Toledo Florist and Gifts
Toledo, OR

Kristine M Selleck, Owner
Thornapple Floral
Middleville, MI

Michelle McMichael, Oo-owner
The Posie Shoppe
Prineville, OR

Judy Holliday, Co-Owner
The Posie Shoppe
Prineville, OR

Sharon Richardson, Owner
Ferrari Florist & Gifts
Santa Cruz, CA

Jean E Holling, Owner
Floral Designs On 99th
Chicago, IL

Kathy Leon
Belli Fiori Florist
Monroeville, PA

Louis Taylor
Anna's Flowers & Gifts Inc
Indian Trail, NC

Robin R Phillips, Owner
MYLORDS floral
Anchorage, AK

Kathleen Kreher, President
Romance in Blooms ltd,
Chicago, IL

Russ Schmitt, Owner
Schmitt's Florist
Louisville, KY

Erlene R. LeBorgne, Proprietor
Rosemont Floral
Portland, ME

David Kurtinaitis, Owner
Forte's Wading River Florist
Wading River, NY

Dianne Richardson-Conda, President
Richardson's Flowers, Inc.
Ironstone Village
Medford, NJ

Tom Massingham, Owner
Garrison Hill Florists
Dover NH

Susan Felch, Owner
The Blumenhaus Florist
Park Falls, WI

Hugh Atkinson, Co-owner
Atkinson Flowers
Bay Roberts, NL

Kenji Adzuma, Owner
Flowers insolita
Huntington, NY

Steve Harada, Owner
Rabbit Floral
North Hills, CA

Jason Strandberg, Owner
Fairfield Flowers
Eugene, OR

Valerie Dawes, President
New Hampshire State Florists' Association
Allenstown, NH

Stacey Cofka
A Blossom Shop
Bayville, NJ

Parie Villyard, Owner
Secret Garden Fine Flowers
Amarillo, TX

John R. Bradshaw, Owner
Gilliland Flower Shop, Inc.
Stanford, KY

Stephanie Enriquez, Owner
Stephanie's FlowerHaus, Inc.
Indialantic, FL

Ray and Susie Matteson
Peters and Sons Flowers
Spokane, WA

Clay Atchison, Owner
McAdams Floral
Victoria, TX

Bennie & Frances Roten, Owners
Village Florist
Jefferson, NC

April Schwietz, Owner
Mocha Rose Floral Designs
Pittsburgh, PA

Gracia Marshall
St. Ignace Greenhouse and Florist
St. Igance, MI

Seth Koenig
Hefko Floral Company
Marshfield, WI

Shirley Richards and Gudrun Schatzler, Owners
Mann Florist
Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Christi Lopez, President
Bergerons Flowers & Events
Springfield, VA

Keith Hill
Beaverton Florists
Beaverton, OR

Barb Williams, President
Carlisle Flower Cart, Inc.
Carlisle, OH

Sophie Slagle
Marion Floral
Marion NC

Janice Comeau
Boutique Florale Gigi Inc.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Nancy Butts, Owner
Burgett Floral Inc.
Grand Rapids, MI

David E Hamilton
Martier's Florist
Bensalem, PA

Herb Rothe
Rothe Florist of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA

Walter Knoll
Walter Knoll Florist
St. Louis, MO

William F. O'Shea, Owner
Bill O'Shea's Florist and Gifts
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

Leanora Reznik, Owner
Perfect Events
King of Prussia, PA

Tom Boesen
Boesen The Florist
Des Moines, IA

Tom Betts, President
Topper's European Floral Design
Seattle, WA 

Brad White, President
Dean's Designs, Inc.
Wichita, KS  

Steve Huth, Owner
Steve's Flowers and Gifts
Indianapolis, IN

Sherilyn Tannozzini, President
Flowers From The Rainflorist
Sunrise, FL

Edward R Kraft, President/Owner
Nanz & Kraft Florists
Louisville, KY

H. C. "Skip" & Lyn B. Shipman
VIP Florist Network, Inc.
Woodstock, GA

Kevin Kegan, President
Blossom Flower Shops
Yonkers, New York

Nancy Carrington, President
Marco Island Florist, Inc.
Marco Island, FL

Carl F Roehrich
City Line Florist, Inc
Trumbull, CT

Janice T. Karrh
Jon Wolf Florist
Savannah, GA

Jack Robinson
Phoebe Floral 
Allentown, PA

Marcia Schaaf
Bud Dauphin
Schaff Floral
Fridley, MN

Howard Hurst, President / CEO
Tipton & Hurst
Little Rock, AR

Renee Cox
Bloom Country Florist
Sierra Vista, AZ
Casas Adobes Flower Shop
Tucson, AZ

Richard & Genevieve Bagatta
Manteca Floral Company
Manteca, CA

Mary Barton
European Flower Company
Weymouth, MA

Wayne Pollack, President/CEO
Peoples Flower Shops Inc
Albuquerque, NM

Lisa Allen, Owner
Banda's Bouquets
Longview, WA 

Joseph G Mioux
Mioux Florists and Greenhouses
Carlyle IL

Phil Enderle
Marvel's Flowers
Killeen, TX

Bill Miller, Owner
The Flower Hut
Charlotte, NC

Terri Dickerson, Owner
Heaven Scent Florist, Inc.
Paris, KY 

Cheryl Pacheco, Owner
Carlson-Wildwood florist
Clearwater, FL

 Canada

John van Bruinessen
Durant's Flowers
Chesterville, ON

Mike & Sandie Bojeczko, owners
Holden's Florists (DUNDAS) Inc.
Dundas, ON

Victoria L. Cripps,
Freelance Designer
London, ON

Luc Morrissette, Owner
Alpine Flowers & Gifts
Elliot Lake, ON

Lynn Martin Freeman
Martin's, the Flower People
Toronto, ON

Bruce Hatcher, President
Regina Florist Co. Ltd.
Regina, SK

United Kingdom

Angela Ballard, Owner
Fleur de Paris
Newcastle Emlyn, Carmarthenshire, UK

Fleur de Paris - Flowers & Unusual Gifts
Wales
United Kingdom

Sarah Skrobacz, Owner
Arum floral design
Chesterfield, England

This letter originated at Flower Chat Florist Coalition
FlowerChat
Attn: Ryan Freeman
455 Route 306
Suite M #2329
Monsey, NY 10952

Florists are welcome to post their names, business names and locations here in support of this request, and are encouraged to contact the FTC in support of the investigation.
 

That's right - the 'arrangements' of flowers are bunched like grocery store bouquets, dropped in boxes and sent "Next day delivery by FedEx®, DHL® or UPS®" for the recipients to assemble themselves.

As one member of Flower Chat so aptly put it, "irony is the perfect word, but don't you know that FTD *is* the "warm, caring florist", and all of its members are just worker bees for the hive?"

In search of higher margins, FTD has chosen to bypass the many warm, caring real florists like Vanessa who made their brand a household name.

So if you want one of those cute little Bee toys, buy a Happy Meal - and then visit your local florist for some flowers.