In the past Valentine's Day meant one would pick up flowers and chocolates for his or her significant other. Now, with technology and fresher ideas, Valentine's Day purchasing has changed.

Ordering flowers from an online retailer like FTD, Teleflora or 1-800-Flowers usually involves the final product being assembled from an unknown location where flowers can grow better, the flowers being frozen and then finally shipped to the customer. Young start up companies are changing the way flowers are delivered and are insisting on local delivery and fresh flowers, Inc. reports.

These start up companies are injecting fresh ideas and technology into the flower and gift business. Some companies will offer fresh flowers delivered by a bicycle in one hour and others have strict guidelines on farm fresh flowers.

Farm Fresh Flowers Only

John Tabis and his friend Juan Pablo Montufar started a new company called The Bouqs in 2012. The company has fresh flowers cut-to-order straight from eco-friendly and sustainable farms in the United States, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica. The Bouqs has received $20 million in venture capital assistance. For Valentine's Day, the company plans on delivering 150,000 bouquets of flowers.

University of Colorado-Boulder graduates Matthew Schwab and David Bladlow both wanted to create a flower start up to create arrangements that were even better and creative than local florists. They formed BloomThat and have become a national bouquet-delivery company thanks to a nice $7.6 million in seed funding and venture capital investments.

Sharing More Profits with Local Florists

BloomNation matches online orders with a local florist, a strategy 1-800-Flowers and FTD have used. However, BloomNation gives more of the profits to the local florist and also provides them with customer data and marketing information.

Flowers by Bicycle

Petal by Pedal was founded by Kate Gilman, a former lawyer. Gilman quit her desk job to deliver flowers by bicycle. Petal by Pedal uses local flowers from New York farms and then assembles the bouquets inside Mason jars. The orders are delivered throughout Manhattan on a bicycle.

Farmgirl Flowers insists on being environmentally friendly. The company re-uses burlap bags that once held coffee beans and would normally be thrown out to assemble their bouquets. Christina Stembell says other companies are trying to steal her idea and use the bags as well. Stembell lost a trademark case against BloomThat, but insists her creations are unique and every order is "made with heart." In San Francisco, her orders are shipped by bicycle and elsewhere in the U.S. she offers next-day shipping.

Women Buy More Than Men

BloomThat's Bladlow originally thought most of his customers would be men, but quickly realized that 70 percent of his company's orders are from women. Women typically buy flowers for their friends and family on any occasion, while men save their flower purchasing for only specific days.

Still, on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day men are buying flowers and these creative start up companies want to create a better experience with fresher flowers for these customers.