A flower shop is turning out to be a booming business all over the world. Whatever the occasion, a flower is the first gift option that comes to your mind. Whether it is your mother’s birthday, your wedding anniversary or your best friend’s graduation day, a flower bouquet would make an ideal gift.

The main advantage of gifting flower is that, unlike other gifts, flowers can be gifted to both men and women. There is a lot of personal touches involved when you carefully select a flower for gifting.  Moreover, gifting flowers is the right way to convey your emotions.

Before the internet revolution, gifting a bouquet of roses to a person in a different country was out of the question. The least you could do was ask your friend or relative in the same country to purchase flowers and send it to the concerned person.

But this is not the case anymore. Whichever part of the world you are in, it is now possible to deliver flowers to your near and dear ones through an international florist.

Let us have a look at the different models of the flower business

Local Florist

A local florist is one who delivers flower in a local area. The local area can be a city or a part of the city. For e.g.; some florists will deliver flowers only in the Downtown area of Dubai whereas some will cover the entire city of Dubai.

Most of the local florist will have a brick and mortar store from where you can pick up the flower directly. If you are not able to visit the shop, then you can ask them to deliver the flowers to the destination as specified by you.

Advantages of local florist

• As mentioned earlier, most of the local flower shop will have a physical location where they will display the various flowers and bouquet. You can visit a florist near you and pick out the arrangement that you like the most. Since you see the product before purchasing you are assured of the quality.

• You can touch and feel the flower before purchasing them. For e.g.; flowers like rose will have thorns in the stem. When you pick a bouquet by yourself, you can select the one that does not have any thorns or sharp objects as decorative pieces.

• When you select the flower by yourself, you can always check the smell of the flower before purchasing. For e.g.; not all roses have a sweet aroma. Thus, if you pick up a rose bouquet, you cannot assure that the bouquet will have a sweet fragrance. On the other hand, when you purchase bouquets with sweet smelling flowers like the peony, you can smell it and pick the one you like.

• If you are confused as to what flower to buy, the florist can always provide you with his suggestion. For e.g.; if you want to buy a bouquet of roses for that special person in your life, the florist can suggest the right color, type and number of roses to pick.

• When buying from a local florist, you are assured of same day flower delivery. Thus, you need not have to worry about the flowers getting delayed in transit.

Last but not the least, by purchasing a flower from a local florist, you are promoting a local business. This way you are directly contributing to a major cause.

International florist

In a country like UAE where expats form a significant part of the population, customers often order flowers for delivery at an international location. The major international locations include Asian countries like India and Pakistan.

The business of international flower delivery mostly takes place through online florist shop as it is easy and convenient to place order.

How does an international flower delivery work?

When you order an international flower delivery, there are so many questions that pop up in your mind. Are the flowers transported all the way from your resident country to the foreign location? Will the flower stay fresh throughout the journey? These are few of the doubts which you usually have.

Most of the best online florist who undertakes international delivery will have a contract with a local florist in the destination country. In most of the cases, when you place an order online, the website will specify that an affiliated florist flower shop will fulfill your order.  The order will be electronically transmitted to a florist in the destination country, who will then deliver the flower to the right address.

Thus, when you order an international flower delivery through an online site, you see a photograph of the bouquet or arrangement that is just a representative and not the exact image of the flower being delivered. If you want the flowers to go with any gift like a teddy bear or a box of chocolate, then the contract will be with local florists who supply that specific gift.

But there are certain remote locations where finding an affiliate flower shop is very difficult. In such a situation, the online florist will enter into a contract with a flower shop in the nearest town/city, who will then deliver the flower to the right address.

Thus, when you compare a local and an international florist, you can observe that a local florist is any time better than an international florist.

When you do business with a local florist, you are not only able to touch and feel the flower and ensure its quality before purchasing but is also providing business opportunity to a local shop.

But what if you want to send the flower internationally? The best way is to ask a local friend to help you out. He/she can visit a local flower delivery shop and pick up the product as per your choice. This way you are not only ensured the quality of the product but also can purchase flower at an affordable rate.