Gift messages and recipient details

A gift order carries three kinds of information, and each has a different reader. The card message is for the recipient. The delivery note is for the driver. The private note is for the shop. Florist software gives each its own field so one doesn't leak into another.

Customer and recipient

Start with who's who. The customer pays for the order. The recipient receives the flowers. One florist program's help page defines them in those words: the customer is the person placing and paying, the recipient is the person receiving.¹

That split is the reason florist software differs from a plain sales screen. Flowers are often delivered to a third party, the recipient.² The customer can be the recipient too. The program allows that when someone sends flowers to themselves.¹

Get the recipient right. The same help page warns that wrong details "may cause delivery issues."¹

The card message

The card message lives in its own field on the order. In the program described, staff "Enter a message in the Card Message field."¹ Suggestions can be browsed, and saved short codes let staff insert common wording quickly.¹

Leaving it blank is allowed. The help page says the order "will still be created, but no message will be printed with the delivery".¹

The help page does not say whether the program warns staff about a blank card message.

Two habits help. Read the message back to the customer on phone orders. And keep the message separate from instructions to the designer, so a note like "no lilies" doesn't end up handwritten on a card.

Delivery notes for the driver

A delivery note is for the person at the door. Gate codes, a side entrance or "leave with the neighbor" belong here, not on the card.

On the web side, one general store maker says customers "can include delivery instructions and are required to leave a phone number" at checkout.³ The phone number matters because a driver may need to call the recipient or the sender.

The florist program has a separate driver instructions field and treats it as part of the order form.¹ How the notes reach the driver is covered on the page about drivers' lists.

Private notes and special flags

Some information should never be printed or shown to the recipient. The florist program keeps "customer private notes" that only the shop sees.¹ Its order form also offers a special note chosen from a list, with options such as Confidential, Save Funeral and Frequent Address.¹

The help page doesn't explain what each option does, so check your own program's documentation before you rely on one.

What a customer is sent

Some web shop tools put delivery details into the confirmation email. One maker says text from its delivery information field shows up there on its own.³ If a field feeds customer emails, keep private notes out of it.

Privacy

Names, addresses and phone numbers are personal information. The rules for storing and using them depend on where the shop and its customers are. For general guidance, see your country's regulator. That's the OAIC in Australia, the ICO in the United Kingdom or the FTC in the United States. Or ask a lawyer. This page doesn't give legal advice.

The help pages above were read on 2026-11-03.¹