Bringing the Guest Experience Home With the One You Love

What are you doing for Valentine’s Day this year? Would you like to go out and be the guest or bring the guest experience home? The most important gift is time spent together, and technology can bring it to your door.

Gifts abound thanks to mobile technology, and the basket is full.

“Where Flowers Bloom, So Does Hope” – Lady Bird Johnson

If you want to have flowers delivered, more options than ever exist. We advise comparing the product’s price during your search to the total at checkout.

It is commonplace for popular online flower retailers to slyly add delivery charges to your order at the last moment. The new kids on the block are more forthcoming in their charges, but a $49 bouquet of roses still checks out at more than $65.

“Everything You Can Imagine is Real” – Pablo Picasso

Are you feeling creative? Gifts, groceries, restaurant meals, even plants or electronics are available via the delivery app. Just don’t send your significant other a vacuum cleaner.

DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats are the top three food delivery apps in the U.S. According to the Business of Apps, food delivery revenue has gone from $8.7 billion in 2015 to $26.5 billion in 2020.

Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a home-delivered meal, but if it’s their favorite restaurant, and it’s safer to stay home, why not? Order some flowers to accent, and you’ve used your creativity (and your credit card) to make a memorable evening.

“There is Nothing Like Staying at Home for Real Comfort” – Jane Austen

Delivery apps are convenient as long as they work in your area. In metropolitan areas, you’re in good luck. In remote areas, you have to be creative, but there is no guest experience like the quiet of home in the country. 

Food delivery used to be a gamble; place the order and pray that it works in a reasonable amount of time, if at all. Things weren’t always better back in the day.

Here are links to delivery apps and services that are getting it done for Valentine’s Day in 2022.

Flowers and Plants for the Guest Experience at Home

The Bouqs Company is based in California and prides itself on farm-to-customer flower delivery and serves the entire U.S. Reviews are positive, and they offer a wide selection of flowers and house plants.

BloomNation is an online portal for delivery services that offer a broader selection than others because of the network of more than 3,000 florists.

UrbanStems offers a wide choice of flowers, plants, and gifts. They focus on higher-end orders, corporate gift-giving and use the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms as a selling point. Next-day delivery throughout the U.S. and same-day in New York and D.C.

Groceries, Meals, and Your Imagination

Instacart uses your local stores for order delivery. It provides real-time updates, same-day delivery (under an hour in some locations), and the full selection each store offers online.

Dumpling offers personal shoppers. Like Uber or Lyft, you get a photo and reviews of the shopper selected for you. You download the app, make your selections and wait for delivery from the local retailer of your choice.

Hungryroot focuses on healthy produce and recipes. They want to interact with you to offer healthy choices. An ambitious social media presence provides recipes, photos, advice, and links to other healthy tips. The minimum order is $65 but allow a few days for delivery.

Use your imagination and stick to your budget if you need to. If it doesn’t take a truck with a crew to deliver, you can have it at your door within hours. Most importantly, be safe and make it a special day for your loved ones. 

On behalf of all of us at GEM, we wish you and yours the best.