FTD Review

FTD is a flower retailer and flower delivery company that is based in Downers Grove, Illinois. The company’s acronym (FTD) currently stands for “Florists’ Transworld Delivery” however, this was not always the case. As a matter of fact, when the company was first founded in the early 1900s, this same acronym that served at its name actually stood for “Florists’ Telegraph Delivery”. This previous name came about because the company was founded as a partnership between thirteen florists that exchanged orders by way of telegraph so that they could accommodate each other’s out-of-town clients. The word “Telegraph” in the company’s name was changed to “Transworld” in 1965 to highlight the fact that they had started to handle international orders.

Without a doubt, one of the primary strengths of FTD is the fact that they have over a century’s worth of experience in the floral industry, having been formally founded in 1910 – which means that the company is now over 110 years old. For quite some time now, the company has prided itself on the quality of its delivery services. This is a factor that they have emphasized with their choice of logo since 1914, a stylized depiction of the Roman god Mercury – the swift god of commerce, communication, messages, and merchants.

Pros and Cons of FTD

Before we dive into the meat of this review, here are some of the most evident pros and cons of FTD.

Pros

• They have a significant amount of experience that has been built up over time.
• They have the advantage of having reliable and strong infrastructure to support them.
• Their FTD Gold Membership plan is extremely affordable.
• They consistently have deals and discounts that they offer on their website.
• They put a lot of focus on their same-day delivery services.
• They offer international flower delivery services.
• Their website is easy to navigate.

Cons

• Compared to their competitors, FTD’s deals and discounts could be more comprehensive.
• Their Gold Membership is somewhat lackluster compared to subscription services that other companies in the floral industry offer.
• Their overall selection is good but they could use more variety.

FTD’s Pricing

Back in the fledgling days of the floral industry, pricing was never really one of the most important factors that large companies focused on because competition was relatively scarce. This was true for FTD during their early years when they were still just a group of florists that were exchanging orders by way of telegraph; however, nowadays this has all changed. Today, the floral industry has become an extremely competitive arena and as a result, it is not difficult at all to find a company that can match any person’s budget.

Overall, FTD’s pricing can be described as fair, with many of their arrangements being relatively affordable. Sure, you would probably be able to find cheaper options if you looked around for a bit but that is just the nature of the modern floral industry and we can’t really hold that fact against FTD. There is however another noticeable aspect of FTD’s pricing compared to a lot of its competitors, there is a relatively wider range. When we were browsing their selection, we saw extremely affordable products that were being offered for prices as low as $30. However, on the other end of the spectrum, it didn’t take long for us to find bouquets on their website that were being sold for hundreds of dollars.

In the realm of payments and pricing, the only real criticism that can be made of FTD is the payment options that they offer. When it comes to e-commerce, many companies (in the floral industry or otherwise) are not making an effort to accommodate more contemporary payment options but as of now, FTD is still utilizing the tried and true “standard” payment options. Presently, FTD accepts payments that are made through all of the major credit card companies (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and they also accept payments that are made through PayPal as well. However, as of yet, FTD still does not accept more contemporary payment options like Apple Pay or Google Pay. This is not a glaring drawback but it is always great to accommodate a more diverse range of payment options to make things more convenient for potential customers.

Last but not least, it is also worth mentioning that FTD does support AfterPay. This is a service that allows customers to submit their order and then pay later with four interest-free payments.

FTD’s Delivery Details

As one would expect, delivery is one of the key areas where FTD truly shines – after all, it has been in their name for over a hundred years. Therefore, it is actually somewhat surprising to find out that there are a few aspects of FTD’s delivery service that range from trifling to annoying.

One of the main parts of FTD’s delivery process that can be somewhat annoying is the service fees. Not the fact that service fees are present but rather the fact that they can fluctuate significantly. In a sense, this is understandable because of FTD’s immense scope and service area but that doesn’t make it better for individual customers. Thankfully, FTD has stated up front that “actual service fees may vary” and they have made an effort to disclose all of the specifics of the fees and pricing details before the end of the checkout process. Still, with that being said, FTD’s delivery service is still one of the best in the industry and they provide them to all fifty states in the US and over 125 countries across the world.

FTD’s Delivery Times

Delivery time is definitely another area where FTD truly shines – which is fitting since they have been using the Roman god Mercury as their logo for over 100 years.

They are capable of providing same-day delivery throughout all of the United States and also in most of their international locations as well. The only caveat that customers need to be aware of is that the order needs to be placed before 2:00 PM (recipient’s time zone) for it to qualify for same-day delivery. This caveat is definitely understandable and in fact, FTD does give more leeway compared to a lot of their competitors. It is not unusual to see some same-day delivery services having their cutoff times be 1:00 PM or noon.

It is also worth mentioning that although FTD’s Gold Membership plan could definitely be improved, it does have the benefit of giving reduced same-day service/shipping fees. In addition to this, it also gives members free standard shipping and no regular service fees. All in all, this is a reasonable membership service, especially when you consider that it only costs $30 per year.

FTD’s Occasions

All things considered, FTD does use a fairly standard layout for its website, making it fairly straightforward and easy to navigate. In addition to this, they have dedicated a noticeable amount of time and effort to curating their selection of flowers so that customers can easily find the right ones for their specific occasion.

Some of these occasions include:

• Birthday
• Get Well Soon
• Anniversary
• New Baby
• Valentine’s Day
• I’m Sorry
• Graduation
• Retirement
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day
• Funeral

FTD’s Flower Types

As we’ve said before, for being as big a company as they are, FTD could definitely use more variety when it comes to their flower types. However, they aren’t particularly lacking in this regard either. Some of the most popular and common flower types that FTD offers include:

• Daisy
• Iris
• Rose
• Snapdragon
• Sunflower
• Stargazer Lily
• Calla Lily
• Alstroemeria
• Carnation
• Gladiolus
• Hydrangea

FTD’s Extras

FTD may have started out as a flower delivery company in the early years of the 20th century but nowadays they have branched out to include far more than that. Alongside their selection of flowers, FTD now also offers plants and gifts as well. Example of this include:

• Flowering Plants
• Bonsai & Bamboo Plants
• Succulents & Air Plants
• Teddy Bears
• Cakes, Cookies & Chocolates
• Candy & Confections
• Dipped Chocolate Strawberries
• Fruit Gift Baskets
• Meat & Cheese Gift Baskets

The Verdict On FTD

Overall, it seems as if FTD has tried their best to stay away from being a “Jack of all trades, master of none”. Instead, it is quite evident that as a company they have focused primarily on expanding and developing their delivery service, making sure that it is as fast and efficient as possible. There are however still some glaring places where FTD could definitely do with some improvement. Their flower variety and selection are lacking for a company of their size. In addition to this, they could definitely do with improving their membership plan to make it more competitive in the contemporary e-commerce landscape.

If you were to compare them to the rest of the floral industry, FTD is definitely better than average. However, they are a prime example of longstanding history and experience not automatically translating to a company automatically being the best in their industry.