What is an FTD Florist?
FTD is the world’s first flower service to deliver beyond the reach of one florist’s geographic area. It was started in the United States in 1910 when 15 florists agreed to exchange out-of-town orders for one another. FTD originally stood for Florists’ Telegraph Delivery, because orders were exchanged via telegraph. In 1965, FTD began to include international florists. FTD then changed its name to Florists Transworld Delivery to reflect the international presence of the company.
About 20,000 North American retail florists are part of the FTD delivery network. Internationally, the FTD family of florists includes 154 countries and 50,000 affiliated florists. FTD delivers to nearly the entire United States.
You know you are working with an FTD florist when you see the logo of the gold Mercury Man on their website or in the window of the store. If you are unsure, check the FTD.com Web site to confirm that your florist is an FTD florist. FTD has become synonymous with sending flowers out of town.
When you deliver with an FTD florist, they find a florist closest to the home of the flower recipient. That florist is then given your order and the delivery address via their computerized system. The flower arrangement you select will be prepared and delivered from the florist closest to your recipient. This system ensures quick and efficient delivery by reducing the amount of time the flowers are in transit. Less time in transit means fresh flowers that are not wilted or starving for water. Long transport times can easily destroy delicate blooms before arrival.
It’s beneficial to independent florists to join these networks becfause of the huge amount of exposure, advertising, marketing and support that they get by being part of a network. Since so many people buy flowers online, the florists who are part of a network that has all the details worked out and can make it quick and easy to send flowers, have the advantage. Customers have confidence in a florist who is part of a recognized
In addition to FTD, other florist networks are Interflora and iFlorist in the UK, Petals Network in Australia and New Zealand, NeXflora and InterFlorist for international flowers, Teleflora and 1-800-Flowers in the United States and Canada, BloomNet for international floral wire service, along with many others.