Canstar Blue’s online gift delivery review has seen Gift Basket, Roses Only, Edible Blooms, Haigh’s Chocolates, The Hamper Emporium, Interflora and Bloomex rated on range, ease of site navigation, delivery reliability, product accuracy, customer service, value for money and overall satisfaction.
See our Ratings Methodology.
From celebrating birthdays and farewells, to company wins and even the odd ‘sorry I forgot’ days, there’s no better way to show someone you care than with a nice gift. Just ask the 60% of our survey respondents who said they would buy an online gift again and the 59% who bought a gift for a special occasion.
For the first time ever, we’ve surveyed nearly 800 Aussie consumers about their experiences with purchasing pressies through an online hamper or gift delivery service in the last 12 months. Survey respondents rated services on a bunch of factors, including the range of gifts available, ease of site navigation, the delivery reliability, product accuracy, customer service, value for money and overall satisfaction. The idea is to give you an idea of what to expect from the websites compared, to take the guesswork out of your next gift purchase decision.
Seven online gift delivery services featured in the results but only one achieved a five-star rating for overall customer satisfaction – Giftbasket.com.au. It also scored top marks for its website navigation, product accuracy and value for money.
Here are the best websites for online gift delivery in Australia, as rated by consumers in Canstar Blue’s 2020 review:
Giftbasket.com.au was rated the ‘whole package’ in our first ever online gift delivery review, earning five stars for overall satisfaction, as well as value for money, product accuracy and ease of site navigation. It earned four stars on delivery reliability, product range and customer service. Roses Only, Edible Blooms and Haigh’s Chocolates followed behind with four stars overall, while The Hamper Emporium, Interflora and Bloomex wrapped up the results on three stars overall.
But that’s not to say Gift Basket was the only gift delivery service to impress Aussies. Edible Blooms got top marks for product accuracy and ease of site navigation, and even beat this year’s winner on delivery reliability and product range. Haigh’s Chocolates was the only website to score five stars for its customer service, additionally scoring another five stars for product accuracy. Roses Only also got a five-star rating for site navigation. Read on to find out more about the different online gift delivery services compared.
With more than half of our survey respondents (59%) using online gift delivery services for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions, it’s important to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck to avoid any disappointments (and not to mention embarrassment). On average, Australians spend $100 on online gift orders, our research found, so it’s a wise move to shop around. And it seems this is the case for the one in three (33%) who said they’ve tried more than one gift delivery service.
If you’re unsure what to get, 37% of respondents picked flowers and a quarter (25%) chose either chocolates or hampers. Wine was the second least popular item, followed by balloons.
When we asked respondents about their main reasons for buying gifts online, here’s what they said:
Giftbaskets.com.au packs up a wide variety of hampers and baskets. This includes everything from fruit platters and pamper sets with prosecco and candles, to chocolate bouquets, gourmet antipasto and cheese hampers, and ‘new mum’ gifts with baby onesies and stuffed bears. Gift Baskets delivers to various locations across Australia, including metropolitans and surrounding areas like Toowoomba, Ballarat, Wollongong and Newcastle.
Similar to other delivery services, Gift Basket doesn’t send out orders on weekends and any orders placed on Saturday or Sunday will be dispatched on the next business day.
Roses Only sells a variety of flowers such as gerberas, tulips, seasonal flowers, and of course, roses. There’s also a wide selection of Hampers Only, Fruit Only and Wine Only options. And if a simple floral arrangement or bouquet isn’t enough, you can choose an order that comes with extras like French champagne, wine, teddy bears and chocolates.
Roses Only currently delivers to most capital cities, metropolitan areas and regional centres in Australia.
Edible Blooms delivers unique floral arrangements, which include edible flower bouquets that come with donuts, chocolates fruits, as well as beer and wine gift baskets. Edible Blooms also has plenty of classic flower bouquets, too.
Edible Blooms delivers Australia-wide, and you can get free standard delivery for the next business day if your order is over $120. The price for delivery can vary depending on where you live. For the same day delivery to outer metro areas, you will need to cough up $22.95, which is just a little more than those in CBD and neighbouring suburbs ($15.95). Although deliveries for the far outer metro areas of Sydney will have a fee of $49.95. Urgent express deliveries and regional deliveries are the same across the board.
Haigh’s is one of Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate makers, offering a sweet selection of boxed chocolates, Easter hampers, chocolate confectionary, loose chocolates and artisan chocolate. There are also chocolate novelties, blocks and bars. While physical stores are located in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, the company does offer Australia-wide shipping. You can also send orders to Australia from overseas. A flat rate of $15 applies for each delivery.
The Hamper Emporium serves a wide selection of packages containing what they claim to be the finest gourmet brands. Some options available include gourmet food and wine gifts, chocolate, beer and cider, pamper sets and new baby packs. There are also Christmas Hampers, which can carry anything from traditional steamed puddings to Moët Champagne and even Swarovski Crystals (swoon). You can get personalised hampers, too! The Aussie-owned and operated company delivers Australia-wide.
Interflora takes things global, delivering to 150 countries, such as the UK, US, New Zealand and France. Their product range features mostly floral arrangements, including flower bouquets and baskets. Extras like wine or soft toys can be added to any gift set for a fee. Interflora delivers to most places in Australia and around the world where fresh flowers are available. Orders have a $13 delivery fee, regardless of where you’re sending the gift.
Described as ‘Australia’s official florist’, Bloomex provides a variety of floral gifts across Australia. This includes bouquets of fresh cut flowers such as daisies, orchids, roses and mixed bouquets. There are also plenty of pretty arrangements to choose from. A wide variety of gift hampers are also available. Options include wine and champagne hampers, coffee and tea hampers, fruit hampers, sweet hampers, holiday hampers and corporate hampers.
Delivery areas include Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Buying anything online is always risky, even more so if it’s a gift for someone special. A good intention can quickly turn into disappointment if the gift you ordered doesn’t turn up on time, or looks nothing like its internet description.
If you’re looking for a trusted online gift delivery service, start by reading reviews for different websites. Customer reviews aren’t gospel but can be a good indication of overall satisfaction. Watch for recurring themes in reviews and common observations about the service provider, but don’t get bogged down with the one-off negative review.
There are several online gift delivery services available in Australia, so do your research before handing over your hard-earned money.
This report was written by Canstar Blue’s home & lifestyle journalist, Tahnee-Jae Lopez-Vito. She’s an expert on household appliances, grooming products and all things grocery and shopping. In addition to translating our expert research into consumer-friendly ratings reports, Tahnee spends her time helping consumers make better-informed purchase decisions on all manner of consumer goods and services, while highlighting the best deals and anything you need to be aware of.
Online Flower Delivery Reviews
Picture credit: Evgeny Atamnenko / Shutterstock.com
Canstar Blue surveyed more than 9,000 Australian adults across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers within the survey group who have purchased a gift(s) through an online hamper and gift delivery service in the last 12 months – in this case, 768 people. This includes sites where users can order gifts to be delivered, not online department stores.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.