When it comes to packaging for delivery, florists follow different strategies depending on their markets and philosophies, writes Bruce Wright in the September/October issue of Floral Management. The advent of curbside pickup and no-contact delivery caused many to reconsider how much packaging is needed to protect the arrangement and provide a branding opportunity.
Packaging can provide extra visual impact — along with the dramatic opportunity for unwrapping. At Blumz by JRDesigns in Ferndale and Detroit, Michigan, arrangements for delivery are placed in delivery boxes, then wrapped either with clear cellophane, or if the weather threatens to dip below freezing, with a thicker, opaque, “hard wrap” paper. “We train our staff to wrap the arrangement, not the container,” says Jerome Raska, AAF, AIFD, PFCI. Designers are trained to avoid placing fragile flowers like lilies on the outside of an arrangement.
Whenever floral arrangements are transported without boxes, it becomes essential to equip the delivery vehicle with a carrier system to hold the arrangements upright. At Petal to the Metal Flowers in North Bend, Oregon, Robbyn Repp uses the kind made of stiff yet flexible foam with holes cut in it to accommodate floral containers of various sizes.
A care tag should, of course, be a fundamental part of delivery packaging protocol. But are they enough? Repp believes drivers should also be trained to deliver care information proactively. “We want them to engage with the customer, educate and communicate,” she says. Taking that extra step not only helps the customer to be successful with the flowers, but it also develops trust and positions the shop as the expert.
Flower-food packets can also be imprinted with a shop’s logo, website, and contact information and are slim enough to be held within a standard cardette holder. What better way to send the message that your shop cares about the quality of the flowers— even after they have left the shop?
To read the full story about packaging for delivery, check out the September/October issue of Floral Management.
Molly Olson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
