Online florists look forward to the busiest day of the year tomorrow. With as many as 25,000 roses that go out per portal on Valentine’s Day, the orders via the web have been steadily increasing over the last five years. And Brinda Menon of Dial a Bouquet says, “The reason is possibly because 75% of our orders come from people in long distance relationships.”
Last-minute flower requests pour in anywhere from Mumbai to Melbourne, with a large number of orders coming in from the US, UK and the Gulf, say owners of online flower shops.
To handle the demand, which ranges anywhere from a 25% boost in sales to, in some cases, even 100%, Brinda says, “We plan our stocks with multiple vendors at least a month in advance.” This also includes hiring a larger fleet of delivery boys to cater to the rush that usually kicks off a day before Valentine’s day and goes on for a few days after — courtesy the unlucky lads who “forgot”.
Although, according to Balaji Mohan of the Poo Shop who sees a bulk of orders on Facebook, “More women have been making the purchases these days, and the delivery is often an office surprise in the middle of the day.”
Another favourite time to send flowers for romantics in the city is midnight — given the surge in the number of specified requests for this slot.
But Balaji says, “We only agree to do this for known clients. Knocking on somebody’s door at midnight for a Valentine’s day gift that they are not happy to receive is a disturbance and so we are careful about which orders we take.”
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