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Traditional channels of distribution in the floral industry have been from grower to wholesaler, to
retailer, to ultimate consumer. (Rosenbloom, 2004) In more recent years this distribution model, and
more specifically the role wholesaler¶s play within the distribution channel, has been threatened. This
threat has arisen as a result of two fundamental changes in the floral markets¶ environment.

Firstly the explosion of information technology, particularly e-commerce, has provided growers,
retailers and customers with the opportunity to communicate directly with each other without the use
of the µmiddleman¶. (Rosenbloom, 2004) Whereas traditionally the Wholesaler played the vital role
of creating market coverage and sales contact for the grower, dot-com services can now take over
those roles. (Rosenbloom, 2004) The increase in use of credit card payments via the internet and
phone banking has further facilitated the opportunity for growers, retailers and customers to buy and
sell directly with one another. (ë


Secondly, the ability to buy directly from the grower has been further facilitated by the emergence of
Federal Express¶s and UPS¶s floral freight services. (Rosenbloom, 2004) (ë
 This has
eliminated the need for wholesalers in the quick, reliable transportation of flowers, another vital role
they traditionally played.

An example of a company who has successfully eliminated the need for a traditional wholesaler is
Calyx and Corolla. (ë
 Owades, the owner, believed it was inefficient for the flowers to
pass through so many hands before getting to the retailer. She organised contracts between growers,
FedEx and retailers within the United States which proved to be successful. Retailers received
catalogues from the grower featuring photos and information on the different flowers on offer; they
then placed internet and phone orders with the grower, paying by credit card. FedEx picked up the
flowers and had an overnight delivery time. (ë
 Calyx and Colrolla are not the only
company who have successfully eliminated the wholesaler, several dot com services like ³flower
shop´ link growers and retailers directly.

Given these macro-environmental changes and the success of Calyx and Corolla and others it is
questionable whether the traditional wholesaler will or should be largely disintermediated from floral
marketing channels as a whole. Though there has been success for the aforementioned companies and
several others it is unlikely the traditional wholesaler will be removed from the distribution channel,
nor should they be. The rationale for this opinion is twofold;

1.Firstly though technology and dot com services can provide growers with coverage and sales
contact it cannot replace several other vital roles and securities wholesalers provide growers.

- Inventory holding is a vital task that wholesalers perform for growers. (Rosenbloom, 2004)
Growers are able to quickly pass there flowers onto wholesalers who then must process orders
and distribute the flowers. Flowers cannot not be held for too long, due to their perishable
nature, by passing on the products to wholesalers, growers can reduce the financial risk
involved in holding onto stock. (Rosenbloom, 2004)
- Order processing is a crucial task performed by wholesalers for growers. (Rosenbloom, 2004)
Growers both large and small would find it very difficult, timely and costly to attempt to fill
large quantities of small orders from many customers. Many dot com organisations engaged
in ecommerce were undermined by the high fulfilment costs associated with thousands of
 small orders. (Rosenbloom, 2004) Growers are able to sell in box load to wholesalers but
many flower shops only want small quantities and large varieties. Wholesalers are able to
absorb the costs associated with many small orders because unlike growers, they carry
products from many sources and can thus distribute costs amongst those. (Rosenbloom, 2004)
- Wholesalers are usually quite close to their customers geographically, (at least in
proportionally to the location of most growers to retailers,) and have continuous contact
through frequent sales calls with their customers. They are thus in a good position to learn
about customer preference which can be passed on to growers to help improve their
competitive marketing strategy. (Rosenbloom, 2004)
- Finally wholesalers provide retailers with customer support; this reduces financial costs for
growers as they do not have to deal with customer recall and complaints. (Rosenbloom, 2004)

Secondly, though technology can facilitate an exchange between grower and retailer it cannot replace
all the distribution tasks performed by wholesalers which are vital for the retailer¶s success.

- Product availability is vital for the viability of floral shops especially during peak times such
as valentines. Wholesalers are better positioned to ensure product availability than growers
because of their closeness to retailers both in geographical and sensitivity terms and their
ability to network and source products from several growers. (Rosenbloom, 2004)
- Customer service is another valuable distribution task performed by wholesalers.
(Rosenbloom, 2004) Retailers require services such as delivery and return of wrong products,
it would be difficult for a grower to provide these services to retailers due to cost and time,
(given the flowers are perishable and growers are often overseas or at least quite remote to the
retailer it would not be feasible.)
- In a floral market it is important to find a balance between quantity, variety and perishability;
Wholesalers provide support to retailers in all of these three areas. For growers, as
aforementioned, it is uneconomical to send many retailers small quantities but for wholesalers
it is a much more feasible task. (Rosenbloom, 2004) Wholesalers are able to buy large
quantities from growers and break these down into smaller quantities according to the
quantity retailers require at hand. This reduces the retailer¶s financial risk involved in buying
box loads of flowers direct from growers which could lead to large amounts dying before they
can be sold. Wholesalers also bring in flowers from a variety of growers, providing an
assortment of styles and greatly simplifying retailers ordering tasks. It would be timely and
costly for retailers to source flowers directly from several different growers worldwide as they
would need to pay for multiple delivery services rather than a single one from a wholesaler.
- Finally wholesalers can provide retailers with critical market advice, such as new popular
market trends.

Though the prospect of direct dealing between grower, retailer and customer may be exciting and
feasible in limited circumstances, the benefits of a wholesaler are indispensible for the majority of
parties in the floral industry given its magnitude in size and dependency on time and efficiency. The
most efficient market channel involves the wholesaler given the aforementioned distribution roles it
plays both for grower and retailer. Thus we do not believe wholesalers should or will be largely
This is not to say that wholesalers
disintermediated from the floral market.

themselves will not participate in the dot com revolution

rather that their position in the distribution channel will
remain fundamentally unchanged.