Crowdsourced delivery is changing the business model for some retail florists, offering new ways to expand their geographic reach, grow sales, meet the sales surge at holidays, offset shortages of shop drivers, and handle last-minute orders.

Retailers of all types have increasingly turned to crowdsourced delivery. It’s essentially the Uber model for package delivery and complements the rising trend in e-commerce sales. Uber Eats, DoorDash, Roadie, Postmates, and Instacart are all examples of companies offering same-day delivery of goods using local drivers.

Florists, faced with a shortage of delivery drivers and increased volume at holidays, are discovering the power of outsourcing to on-demand delivery services.

At The Unlikely Florist in Venice, California, Roadie became an integral part of delivery in April 2020, says Claire Erwin, chief operating officer at the florist. Roadie handled nearly all deliveries for a while, but the store has since balanced its approach using an in-house driver and Roadie to meet delivery needs, Erwin says.

“Rather than driving we were able to take more orders,” she says. “We were able to keep our hands on the flowers. It really allowed us to scale in a way we were having trouble doing before.”

Erwin credits the delivery service for the shop’s recent growth. The shop is able to serve a larger region, reaching more customers. Roadie also helps the shop handle holiday volume more efficiently by batching deliveries for its drivers.

Starbright Floral Design in New York City has also revamped its dispatch system since it began working with Roadie, says Nic Faitos. When the pandemic hit, Starbright went from a staff of 65 to three, and from six delivery vans to one. Faitos quickly realized he needed help with overflow. Today, his shop uses two vans to handle bigger corporate events but relies on Roadie for most other deliveries.

Using crowdsourced delivery not only means costs savings on vehicle maintenance and driver wages, but it has also allowed Starbright to shine in customer service, Faitos says. They are better equipped to accept last-minute orders because they no longer need to make sure their driver is available. They are also able to deliver outside of Manhattan into the other boroughs and the surrounding metro region.

Roadie, which says it services 20,000 zip codes with 200,000 drivers nationwide, is just one delivery service available to retail florists. Other services, such as DoorDash, Cornerstone and Grubhub and Uber Eats not only provide delivery, but they also enable customers to order flowers via their apps, giving florists a new way to reach new customers.

Lee’s Flower and Card Shop in Washington, D.C., has been outsourcing delivery for about a year. The shop refers customers to its offerings on Cornershop, DoorDash — and soon, Grubhub — to place same-day orders after the shop’s delivery cut-off time, says Arisha Hawkins. The only disadvantage she’s found is that depending on the company the products that Lee’s Flower and Card Shop can offer through the app are somewhat limited.

What’s been even more helpful, Hawkins says, is working with a local company, NEAR.delivery, which specializes in retail delivery. Hawkins estimates the shop uses that service up to five days a week as a supplement to their two in-house drivers.

“They’ve been phenomenal in helping us,” she says. “We appreciate having them as a partner.”

Lee’s Flower and Card Shop has been so impressed with the company’s communication and processes — from photographing the product when it leaves the shop to alerting the shop and the recipient when the delivery is en route and complete — that they are implementing some of NEAR.delivery’s practices, Hawkins says.

The idea of using crowdsourced delivery has raised many questions from florists who are hesitant to relinquish control of delivery and fearful that their fragile product might not make it to the recipient intact.

Thomas Angst, head of SMB sales at Roadie, says florists can give drivers care and handling instructions. Drivers also photograph the item at pickup and delivery and provide real-time tracking. Florists can also request a signature on delivery, he says.

“Every item is hand-delivered and gets the ‘white glove’ treatment,” Angst says.

DoorDash works closely with thousands of florists to make sure flowers are packaged appropriately for delivery, says Mattie Magdovitz, director of communications. DoorDash drivers also receive guidance on how to deliver perishable and delicate items, including flowers, during their onboarding process, she says.

“If we can deliver you a burger that’s still hot, and ice cream that’s still cold, and a piece of cake that’s not upside down — then we can deliver you anything else,” Magdovitz says.

When it comes to cost, many companies, including DoorDash, have commission-based plans which range on average from 15 percent to 30 percent.

Roadie charges per delivery and discloses the cost of each delivery before a florist posts an item for pickup.

“We base the cost of each delivery on several factors — primarily, distance and size,” Angst says. Roadie can also work with high-volume retailers to set up special pricing, he says.

Sarah Sampson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.