Nobody home at number 22
The driver knocks at number 22. No answer. It is a surprise bouquet, so the recipient did not know to wait in. There is no phone number on the order, or there is only the sender's. The neighbours on both sides are out too.
The driver leaves a card and takes the flowers back to the shop at the end of the run. Tomorrow, the bouquet goes out again, a day older, in a busier run. If the recipient is out again, it is a third trip or a call to the sender, who is not pleased.
Meanwhile, the flowers are sitting in a van or a cold room, losing freshness.
Why deliveries fail
Flowers are often a surprise, and the sender does not want to spoil it. So the recipient is not told, and the order has no recipient phone number.
The order form rarely asks for a safe place or neighbour preference. The driver has to guess what the sender would want, and different drivers guess differently.
There is also no rule for what happens next. Redelivery is arranged by phone, by whoever is at the counter, and fitted into another run however it can be.
What failed deliveries cost
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Return trips | Driver time and fuel spent twice |
| Flowers a day older | Less impressive when finally delivered |
| Unclear safe place rules | Flowers left where recipients cannot find them |
| Redelivery arranged by phone | Counter time and missed follow-ups |
| Unhappy senders | Complaints about a gift that did not land as planned |
For a florist, a failed delivery costs almost as much as a second order, and the customer rarely sees it that way.
Blocks of flats and new-build estates are the usual trouble spots. A buzzer nobody answers, a concierge who only takes parcels at certain hours, a house number that does not appear on any sign. Once a driver has worked out the answer for an address, it deserves to be written down.
Relay orders make it harder still. The sender is not your customer, so you have no direct way to ask them what they would like, and the network's details may be limited to a name and address. A failed relay delivery can become a string of messages through the network before anyone reaches the recipient, while the flowers wait in your cold room.
How we reduce failed deliveries
- The order form, online and on the phone, asks for the recipient's phone number and the sender's preference: keep it a surprise, allow a message on the day, or allow a call.
- It also asks for a safe place or neighbour preference, with a note that the sender can leave it to the driver.
- Where the sender allows it, the recipient receives a message on the day with a delivery window, without saying who the flowers are from.
- The driver's run shows each delivery's preferences, so the driver knows whether to try a neighbour, use a safe place or bring the flowers back.
- When a delivery fails, the driver marks it on their phone with the reason. The recipient gets a card and, if allowed, a message to arrange a time. The sender is told.
- Failed deliveries go onto a redelivery list for the next suitable run, not onto a paper note by the till.
Hospitals, care homes and offices have their own rules. We record those against the address, so the driver knows what to do next time.
A run that completes
The driver knows, for each address, whether to try next door or use the side gate. Recipients who received a message are home or have told you where to leave the flowers. The few failed deliveries go onto the redelivery list automatically.
- Recipient phone numbers and preferences collected at ordering
- Delivery windows sent where senders allow it
- Clear rules for neighbours and safe places
- Redelivery arranged through a list, not a note
Signs failed deliveries are costing you
- Drivers bring flowers back several times a week.
- Orders often have no recipient phone number.
- Drivers decide where to leave flowers by guesswork.
- Redelivery is arranged by phone at the counter.
- Senders complain that their flowers were delivered late.