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Bloomex is a national Canadian floral company offering various floral and gift arrangements for delivery throughout Canada and the United States via its online order system. The company, headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, is privately held by its founder and president, Dimitri Lokhonia.[1] The company was established in 2006 and maintains its headquarters and call centre in Ottawa.

Business Model

Operations
Bloomex is a floristry business that ships flower arrangements direct to consumers. The company has locations in major Canadian cities and sends most arranged bouquets directly from its own productions. The company deals directly with growers and farms thereby removing the middle man. The benefits are reduced prices and transit time for flowers. This business model is similar to Proflowers in the United States.

Bloomex buys flowers from growers and makes up floral arrangements at its distribution centers, in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver. Most orders are designed and shipped from the regional centers, with those designated for areas distant from the regional centers filled by local florists.

Marketing and Sales
The company has grown over the past 4 years through building a strong online presence. Bloomex began with only three productions in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa in 2006 and has since expanded to cover the East and West coasts. [13] In order to provide a local number to customers, the company buys virtual telephone numbers that connect customers to the Ottawa call centre when they dial a phone number in their local area code.[1]

Bloomex also supports the Canadian Cancer Society, donating 10 percent of the proceeds of 12 selected floral arrangements.[2] When shipped, each arrangement includes a tag informing the recipient that Bloomex is a supporter of the Canadian Cancer Society.[3] The company offers special products to support the Canadian Cancer Society on holidays and significant months. In April 2010, Bloomex provided the CCS with the “Brighter Horizons Bouquet” for Daffodil month from which 15% is donated in support of Cancer research.[11]

Bloomex also supports the Canadian and Bobsleigh team through a collection dedicated to providing support to Canadian athletes. [12]

Information Technology
Mobile, Affiliate with Partners, Social media

Controversy

On March 1, 2008, Toronto Star business and consumer affairs columnist Ellen Roseman reported on Bloomex online complaints, offering one customer's experience with a promised same-day delivery as an example of company unresponsiveness. In a follow-up Star column the next week, company president Lokhonia examined Roseman's late-delivery example, explaining that the order was entered past the deadline for same-day delivery, it was delivered according to the company's published terms and conditions, and the company never refunds delivery charges in such cases in order to maintain its low prices.[4] Lokhonia also alleged that some complaints were actually written by small retail florists in competition with Bloomex,[5] a statement that drew fresh online complaints.[6]

In June 2008, Bloomex issued a press release admitting that the company had made mistakes in the past due to unexpectedly strong sales growth, and announced new systems to improve customer satisfaction.[7]

Following Mother's Day 2009, Roseman noted many new complaints about late or damaged deliveries and advised consumers to seek chargebacks from their credit-card companies rather than pursuing Bloomex for refunds.[8]

In April 2010, the CBC News television program Marketplace tested Bloomex's promises, reporting that the company "...sometimes substitutes one item for something completely different, without checking with the customer, or doesn't deliver at all". A "Chocolate Lovers" basket contained far less chocolate than promised; of three floral arrangements ordered, one failed to arrive and the other two were not as advertised, receiving a "thumbs down" from a professional flower judge.[9]

As of April 2010, the Canadian Better Business Bureau (BBB) continues to give Bloomex its lowest possible rating, an "F", due to the company's overall complaint history, number of unresolved complaints, and Bloomex's failure to resolve the underlying causes of a pattern of complaints.[10]

References

1.^ a b Retail Council of Canada, "The VOIP Advantage", May-June 2007