Flowers remain the number one choice for a gift for mom on Mother's Day. If you live near your mother you can drop them off yourself. But if you live in Vancouver and your mother is in Montreal you may have to use an online service to make sure the flowers get there on time.
There are many delivery services to choose from, but will the blooms your mom receives look as good as they do online? Consumer Reports decided to compare the flowers that showed up with the photos from three major websites.
Bernie Deitrick with Consumer Reports ordered flowers from Proflowers, 1-800-Flowers and FTD.
"We wanted to see if the arrangements they deliver look like the arrangements they picture online," said Deitrick.
They opened two dozen deliveries including roses, tulips, mixed flowers and orchids that arrived in pots. Many of the flowers proved to be a good match, but some of the flowers didn't measure up. On FTD's website the mixed bouquet were smaller than what the photos on their website showed.
"There were more substitutions of flowers, different colours and different sizes," said Deitrick.
Ultimately, 1-800-Flowers proved to be best at sending what was ordered and their tulip bouquet was the best match of all.
Of course, if you want to make mom happy the best way to deliver flowers is to drop them off yourself!
Most popular gifts for Mother's Day
- Jewellery
- Clothing and accessories
- Electronics
- Spa treatments and personal services
- Restaurant meals
- Gift cards
Worst Mother's Day Gifts
- Garbage can
- Wheelbarrow
- Vacuum cleaner attachment
- XXL oversized track pants
- Soccer ball
- No gift at all
More key points and statistics about Mother's Day
- According to the National Retail Federation (U.S.), 64.9 per cent will buy Mom flowers, 31.2 per cent plan to buy mom jewellery, 31.8 per cent plan on buying clothing or accessories and 13.3 per cent of people plan on buying electronics.
- More than half (54.7 per cent) also plan on treating mom to a restaurant meal. Gift cards and personal services such as spa treatments are also popular.
- Nearly one-third will shop at a department store, 21.5 per cent will shop online, 29.6 per cent at discount stores and 31.8 per cent at specialty stores including jewellers, florists and electronics stores.
- According to a recent national survey conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of the Christian Children's Fund of Canada, over one third (approximately 35 per cent) of Canadian mothers polled have received a terrible Mother's Day gift in their lifetime.
- 14 per cent of mothers say that receiving no gift at all was the worst gift they've ever received.
(Ipsos Reid Poll on Behalf of Christian Children's Fund of Canada)
