Improving the In-Store Experience
Rethinking some of the ground rules for merchandising offers floral shops and garden centers a chance to increase sales while improving on already strong customer service practices.
Here are five tips for growing profit margins that any retailer and garden center can implement. Based on a Floral Marketing Fund (FMF) study by researchers at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre and the University of Guelph, on the perceived value of nursery plants in the U.S. and Canada, these easy-to-follow suggestions are aimed at encouraging impulse buying, creating an inviting culture, improved product stocking, and maximizing premium pricing opportunities.
While the study itself focuses primarily on nursey plants, there are still many impactful, broad consumer insights that can aid all floral shops and retailers in understanding purchasing behaviors and capitalizing on them.
1. Invest in Staff
By thinking of staff as part of the merchandising effort, floral retailers and garden centers can shine not only in sharing expertise but also in steering flower buyers and garden hobbyists to needed supplies.
“People are coming in with ideas, a thought in mind with what they want to find for a purchase they already have in mind,” said Dr. Amy Bowen of the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, one of the study’s researchers. “But they are seeking out staff to finalize that decision or reinforce the decision.”
This provides a strong opportunity to provide valuable care and handling education, but most importantly, it builds strong customer service. Investing in both year-round and seasonal staff is a must, Bowmen said.
“Consumers value the staff’s knowledge and advice and are willing to pay more for the confidence in their purchase,” she said.
2. Value-based Pricing
Premium pricing works. With more than a third of customers not noticing the price and another 34 percent choosing not to make price comparison, it is clear people are buying products based on desire for a specific item and not because of price, the study showed.
This provides a clear opportunity to achieve higher price margins on certain items, Bowman said. “Instead of liner pricing, garden centers and retailers should be doing value-based pricing,” she noted.
By monitoring inventory, individual shops can determine where their opportunities are, she recommended. Look for what sells out the fastest. Is it a certain size, color, or plant feature? Then price it accordingly.
The study, which included onsite interviews with shoppers, noted that in general buyers are willing to pay higher prices for utilitarian plant features including plants that can be used for immediate decoration. The study also found customers generally like larger plant sizes, moderate growth rate, longerbloom periods, low and medium-maintenance plants and any plant known to attract pollinators.
3. Container Size Matters
Pricing based on container size is a specific area where retailers and garden centers could implement premium pricing, the study found.
Part of the study examined the buying habits surrounding geraniums and hydrangeas in the U.S. and Canada. While the results were not universal, they did reveal that pot size is part of the equation consumers use to value a plant.
For instance, U.S. shoppers were willing to pay more for a 5-gallon hydrangeas pot with an average or long bloom period, white/cream flowers, and low to medium pruning requirements.
Similarly, both Canadian and U.S. customers were willing to pay a premium for 8.5-inch and 6-inch pots of geraniums, especially if they attracted butterflies and hummingbirds.
The takeaway, Bowman said, is that garden centers should be testing their markets and paying attention to price sensitivity around pot size. By managing the inventory correctly, she said, there are possibilities for increasing revenues.
4. Cluster Products by Customer Needs
Consumers are shopping for certain features, the study found. They typically have immediate decoration needs, and a project/purpose in the works. They may not know the names and variety of all the plants and flowers, but they are shopping based on specific characteristics, Bowman explained.
Using that knowledge to arrange your offerings could drive sales, she said.
Some key areas that consider, based on the researchers’ work, are creating zones based on plant hardiness, temperature range, low-care maintenance, bloom period, pollinators, color and plant size.
5. Inspire Impulse Buys
While nearly a quarter of shoppers browsed a store/garden center despite already having a specific purchase in mind, only 16% of shoppers made an impulse purchase, the study found. Given that a Nielsen 2014 study found that approximately 80 percent of grocery shoppers make an impulse purchase, Bowman suggested there is an opportunity to take a page out of the food-shopping industry’s playbook.
Both garden center and grocery store shoppers typically have a list of things in mind when they enter. But the difference in impulse buys is in the merchandising and organization of a store. Just like endcaps in grocery store spur someone to grab a bag or chips, floral retailers and garden centers could use displays encourage buying plant and flower supplements such as care and handling reources, tools, or gift add-ons for arrangement purchasing.
Having a beautiful boutique of products is great, but those products should also be near the best-selling flowers and plants as well, Bowman said.
“So, near the rose bush, you might have a book on how to care for rose bushes properly, rose fertilizer, and soil acidifiers,” she suggested. “An area with hummingbird plants should have mix and match varieties, a planter, tools, and fertilizer so the buyer can get everything they need.”
By Sarah Sampson
The full study and more information on plant purchasing is available for download here.
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