Flowers are a very popular gift at Christmas, and are an almost perfect internet purchase. But with flowers the delivery date needs to be right. They can't be delivered too early or they will droop. And its obvious that they can't be delivered late. So delivery date is a crucial choice, and is quite different from choosing a delivery date for, say, your internet grocery delivery when it is just down to convenience. But for some reason, some Scrooge retailers are using the exact same sales process for all their products at all times of the year to try to hold onto their flowers for themselves this Christmas.

Delivery date is a crucial choice, and is quite different from choosing a delivery date for, say, your internet grocery delivery

I heard a real-life story the other day from a friend of mine who hade decided to send flowers to her mother. She had been to the Marks and Spencer online store, and had tried to order some flowers, but had had a very poor experience and had not gone through with the purchase.

Why? Well, the sales process goes like this, as it does for all products at all times and M&S. First you choose your flowers, then second you give your personal details, like address, email address and phone number. Thirdly you give your credit card details, and fourthly a delivery address. Then, finally, after all that, you find that the last delivery date for Christmas is 9th December! Or, if you wish, they could be delivered in January.

My friend was 'furious' and 'could not believe it'. After setting up her expectations, they had been dashed in the most disasterous way for her and the Marks and Spencer brand. This is indicative of that store not considering the motivations and needs of the customer at Christmas, where delivery date choice needs to be early in the sales process, not last thing. Should she have looked at the last order dates link? Maybe, but she didn't. And although it may have avoided the pain of all that form filling, to see that the last order date for flowers as 9th December might have been equally dissappointing.

So my friend went elsewhere, to www.interflora.co.ukin fact who did a much better job of selling flowers at Christmas and who got her money and will probably get her continued custom in the future. Well done www.interflora.co.uk for being so generous! And bottom marks for M&S for that miserable Scrooge experience.