3 ways to find an online florist you can trust

While you can usually trust an online florist, the best way to ensure the flowers you’ve chosen arrive as ordered is by going to the florist, picking them out, and delivering them yourself. But that's impractical when you're in PEI and grandma is in BC. How can you ensure your online order matches your expectations?

Here are some tips on how you can make sure that grandma doesn't wind up disappointed with the flowers you bought her:

The best way to source an online florist is to check their reviews.

• This can give you a good indication of whether this online florist delivers on time and if the bouquets ordered regularly match the bouquets delivered.
• When flower shopping online, most customers have an immediate need, they never see the product in person, and the shopping experience is entirely visual.
• A good online florist knows how to meet those needs and if they don’t, the customer will likely let them know by writing a poor review.

Talk to friends, family, and co-workers about their online florist experiences.

• People love to complain about poor service, a shoddy product, or if their expectations that weren't met.
• Talk to people you know about which company they could recommend.

Since most big online florists are actually just order takers who subcontract to local florists in the delivery area, quality may vary depending on where the flowers are going. However, a reputable online florist should make amends if any part of the service wasn’t up to your expectations.

If you're concerned about using a credit card with an online florist, here’s one area where you can feel reasonably safe.

• Despite the fact that credit card fraud is rampant around the world, your credit card company will refund any fraudulent charges, cancel the card, and send you a new one in the event you experience fraud through no fault of your own.

However, here a few tips to ensure you are ordering through a secure website, since it’s better to be safe than sorry.

• Use a florist that offers a 100 per cent satisfaction money-back guarantee.
• Look for a reputable security seal on the website, such as Verified by Visa or PayPal.
• When you get to the check-out stage of the order, ensure the website URL has a valid SSL security certificate. Look for the additional “s” after the “http.” For example, https://exampleflowercompany is a secure check-out; http://exampleflowercompany is not.