COVID-19, SHIPPING DELAYS, AND YOUR FLOWERS

 (Updated as of 4/14/2021)

 COVID-19

Facing the Facts

Nearly every industry has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The shipping and logistics industry have been hit especially hard. This makes it more challenging to ship perishable items like flowers, particularly when our clients purchase them for a specific date for special occasions or arranging activities with groups where everyone needs their flowers in hand by a certain day.

To help our customers make the best decisions possible when purchasing for these important dates, we’ve put together a brief overview of what you can expect and how to prepare.

The current state of the shipping industry

To put it simply, right now, the shipping industry is overwhelmed, understaffed, and is therefore not always able to release information to the public and its customers in a timely or clear manner. Also, they are not able to make the same guarantees of service that existed pre-pandemic.

Due to the significant increase in shipping right now as a result of people doing more online ordering than normal (nearly an 80% increase from this same time last year).  This coupled with short staffing and Covid-19 social distancing protocols for their employees all serve to further impacted the speed of these services. 

The bottom line here is that our shipping partners have been dramatically affected by this pandemic. Although we have had 98% on time delivery success, we are aware that the current state of the shipping industry could affect our clients and us at any time. All this to simply say, when considering your preferred delivery date, we strongly suggest scheduling for your flowers to arrive a day or two prior to the date you actually need them. This gives us a little cushion to ensure that your flower babies get to you on time and gives you that same peace of mind. Also, having the flowers in hand a day or two before you plan to arrange them gives them an opportunity to hydrate from the journey and perk up by the time you’re ready to start designing them.

Lastly, unless you absolutely need to have them delivered on a Saturday, we would recommend opting for Friday delivery instead. For all the abovementioned issues, Saturday deliveries face its own unique set of obstacles in that not every zip code provides Saturday delivery, but also, there are typically less workers and higher likelihood that the shipment could be delayed. In which case, the delivery wouldn’t arrive until Monday and that would be hard on your delicate flowers babies.

Not trying to scare you, and we have all the confidence in the world that your flowers will be delivered without issue, but we felt it was only right to make you aware of these shipping issues as they have to potential to affect you.

NAVIGATING SHIPPING DELAYS

With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of a few quick tips to help ensure that your flowers arrive on time and in tip top condition.

Choosing a delivery date

First, it’s important to note that while our shipping partners have certainly experienced delays due to all the aforementioned reasons, we’ve still maintained a better than 97% on-time delivery rate. While we’re proud of that 97%, we are focusing a lot of attention on the 3% that could be impacted by potential delays and have put together some key suggestions for increasing the likelihood of on-time deliveries for the holidays.  

If you’re ordering for a special occasion or gift, choose a delivery date a day or two before the event date. While we understand that it’s ideal for special gifts like flowers to be delivered on a specific date, look at it as if having them arrive a day or two ahead of time to help get the party started early. 

Early delivery also gives us a little cushion to correct issues should any arise. This way, if the shipment does happen to be late, the order could still arrive in time for the occasion. A little cushion also gives us time to ship out a new order if it turns out that the delays may be significant.

How do I keep the flowers fresh if they arrive early? The same way you would if they arrive on time! Our flowers are high-quality and coming to you direct from the farm. Check out of Petal Care page for a few pro tips and how to care for your flower babies.

And, in the unlikely event that your flowers arrive in less than perfect condition, don’t worry, we got you covered. We pride ourselves on sending the most high-quality, long-lasting fresh flowers available and work hard to ensure that we nail it every time, but with a perishable product sometimes circumstances, like shipping, can get the best of us. While this is out of our direct control, we stand behind our flowers 100% and we’ll get a replacement shipped out to you on the next available shipping date. This is why it is important to yield our advice to order for early delivery because it gives us an opportunity to correct the issue in time for your special occasion.

Friday & Saturday delivery dates

Considering a Friday or Saturday delivery? The simple fact here is that delivering at the end of the week gives us less wiggle room to make things right in case of a delay.

If my Friday delivery is delayed, can’t the carrier just deliver on Saturday? Not necessarily. All of our boxes are shipped via overnight service, but our shipping partners don’t offer that same service to every zip code on the weekends.  Our partners also have reduced operating hours over the weekend. As a result, in many cases, if a Friday delivery becomes delayed, the tracking usually updates to Monday delivery, instead. This is not ideal for you, the flowers, or us but our hands are essentially tied here. This is why we recommend Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday delivery dates. 

We appreciate you!

We’re immensely grateful to you for your support and understanding during these unique and sometimes challenging times. Please know that our Postal Petals fam is working hard to ensure that your order arrives on time and in optimal condition. Our incredible support team works around the clock and behind the scenes to make sure our clients and recipients are happy. 

We’re committed to getting it right and, when that fails, making it right. But we couldn’t do anything that we do without the amazing support from customers like you. 

If you have more questions, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you ASAP.