1. August/September 2014 / www.horticulture.ie / 9
03
See beyond gardening retail to best practices in other sectors.
P
erhaps more than any other retail sector, garden
centres have changed dramatically over the last 20
years or so. Gone are the pallets sitting on concrete
blocks, replaced by shiny aluminium benches or
pressure treated timber. The hand written signs on
plastic angled t-labels have been replaced by laser printed
A4 point-of-sale signs in purpose-made holders, and covered
plant sales areas are now the norm rather than the exception.
Garden centres now offer their customers a sleeker, slicker
more salubrious experience, and although some have
changed and evolved more than others, most have changed
dramatically in the last two decades.
Until recently, most of this change was brought about by
looking at what other garden centres both here and abroad
were doing and how their best practice could be adapted
and shoe-horned into one’s own existing set-up. Obviously
there was - and there still is - a logic to this, as garden
retailing is somewhat specialist in many ways so the above-
mentioned best practice was easy to put in place and relate
to for many centres.
Of course we are making the assumption that these garden
centres that appear to have all the answers really do! Garden
centres are notoriously protective regarding their figures,
profitability and turnover and when asked how things are
going they will invariably answer with a ‘Grand…’ or ‘Not too
bad at all’ comment. (This was brought home to me a number

2. 10 www.horticulture.ie / August/September 2014
of years ago on a trip to see Christmas
shops in garden centres outside
Ireland. One large garden centre had a
wonderful looking shop, eye-catching
displays and reeked of professionalism.
It was touted as the template that all
centres should aspire to be… it closed
down a few months after.) But without
figures to back up claims how can you
truly see what is best practice?
Thankfully a lot of this secrecy and
paranoia is leaving the industry as many
garden centres now
see the need for full
disclosure of figures
amongst a group of
likeminded individuals,
so soon perhaps it
will be easier to see
if perceived best
practice within garden
centres is truly so.
In other words the
question ‘What have
you done to make the
garden centre more
profitable?’ can be answered truthfully
with figures to back up the reply.
So in many ways it is easier to look at
some of the other retail sectors, and in
particular those retailers that have a track
record for profitability, to see what they
do and what can be adapted to garden
retailing. On one of my occasional forays
into Dublin city centre a few weeks back,
I came across the ‘Shoe Garden’ (retail
research brings me to strange places) in
Arnotts department store and it made
me think that if they can use and adapt a
very outdoor theme to create a fantastic
shopping experience, then why are
garden retailers not using equally creative
themes or adapting other retailers’ ideas
and strengths in their own businesses?
And to expand the concept further past
just image and theme, which won’t always
fit into our sector, what else can we learn
from other sellers?
The simplest way to look at this is
to pick a type of retailer and look at
what they do well, then look at which
department in your store these best
practices can be applied to, while
keeping in mind that some of their
philosophy can be applied in an almost holistic way to the
whole store.
TRYING IT ON –
One of the key rituals in shoe shopping is trying them on
for size, look and feel. It’s that ability to try before you buy,
plus the way in which they are displayed that makes shoe
shopping an enjoyable experience for many.
But how can we relate this to a garden centre? It requires
some abstract thinking but the most obvious department
I can think of is the pot and container area where you have
many different colours and designs of pots displayed in
racking. But do we encourage the customer to ‘try them on’
so to speak? What I mean by this is whether we make it easy
for them to fit a plant with a pot? Although pots are often
dragged on to plant displays the reverse is rarely true. I would
argue that there should be an ever-changing ‘plants for pots’
display in the centre of the pot display and that customers
should be encouraged to try out the pots with the plants, and
even bring them home to see how they look with a promise
that you’ll exchange them if they don’t suit. Advertise this ‘try
on’, and exchange service in the new ‘Plant+Pot’ area.
This could be taken a stage further by adapting something
clothes retailers use, which are those all too flattering mirrors.
Many garden retailers have used the ‘front door display’ idea
of a merchandise door with two plants and two pots, but how
about creating a mirror image of the customer’s front door by
having four or five doors in common colours that revolve on
a stand so that the customer can choose their door, and then
match their choice of pots and plants to better effect? With
a little thought you can also have different pull-down door
surrounds in brick, dash, stone, etc. to complete this entrance-
mirroring effect.
TOP SELLERS –
One of a customer’s main requirements in making a purchase is
confidence in a product or plant, and nothing instils confidence
more than knowing that many others have also purchased the
item. Garden centres can play on this by showing off their top
sellers both in plants and garden care products, just as many
bookshops and other retailers do.
This can be as dynamic as an ever changing display of your
top 10 selling plants for this month, or something as simple as
flagging a plant feed as your top selling product. How many
of your customers stare at the garden care shelving, dazed
and confused by the array? Surely a sign saying ‘I’m the best
selling plant food in the store’ would help them commit to
“How many of your customers stare at the garden care shelving,
dazed and confused by the array?”
03
“Thankfully a lot
of this secrecy
and paranoia
is leaving the
industry as many
garden centres
now see the need
for full disclosure”

3. August/September 2014 / www.horticulture.ie / 11
03
that purchase? The easiest product to sell more of is one that
already sells well.
Those top 10 selling plants could be arranged on 10 square
benches in the covered plant display area just after your main
entrance ‘wow’ display. They could be cleverly signed with
point-of-sale that gives that booky look to help the customers
make that connection.
Remember that product confidence will always drive sales.
KNOWLEDGE PLUS TRUST EQUALS LOYALTY
Knowledge is a key ingredient in the sales process and
without this knowledge it would be impossible to sell with any
confidence. But trust is also important and they work hand-
in-hand in pharmacies to build loyalty, which is something
that garden retailers can borrow and promote to their
customers. Almost every garden centre – I hope – has this
product knowledge in abundance but many are not so good at
communicating it to their customers.
I’m not suggesting that your most knowledgeable staff go
around in a lab coat but they do need to exude confidence by
the bucket load and empathy for the customer who arrives in
with a sick plant that needs to be diagnosed. These skills which
can be learned, combined with their knowledge-driven ability to
solve a particular problem, will promote customer loyalty as you
become ‘The Garden Centre That Knows’.
SELLING THE BENEFIT –
Health food shops – it’s all in the name, isn’t it? Those
words communicate that this store stocks products that are
good for me and my family. Before you even walk through the
door the benefits of shopping here are implied and all those
outdoor hiking, camping and cycling stores communicate the
same message indirectly too.
Garden retailers rarely promote the benefits of gardening
and this is probably because there is no direct, measurable sale
that can be attributed to the concept of wellbeing. But surely by
promoting gardening as a healthy pastime for the whole family
then every garden related business would profit in some way?
This can be done on a single shop basis by clever use of
those now commonplace lifestyle images and with by-lines
that practically write themselves, using words such as grow,
bloom, fresh, blossom, plant, scent, dig, rejuvenate, dormant,
spring, sprout and so on. Even better, it could be used by the
whole horticulture sector to get people outdoors and into
their gardens. Such a campaign, especially if school focussed,
would go more than a little way towards curbing the obesity
and general health issues that seem to be constantly in
the news. Why not play off of those issues to everyone’s
advantage in more ways than one?
CARING AND CUDDLING –
Kids are dragged almost magnetically towards pet shops. For
some it’s the chance to cuddle a rabbit or pet a guinea pig, for
others it’s the colour and exoticness of birds or fish and for some
it’s the thrill of eyeballing that snake or tarantula. But whatever
the reason, that draw is real and it’s something that will be
almost impossible to recreate in the gardening world.
There are things that can be tried to make your store more
likeable by kids if you don’t have a pet department. One of the
simplest and most effective draws is a petting zoo, either for
a couple of weekends a year or perhaps even as a permanent
fixture if you have the space and resources. These can really be a
big attraction for kids, and where kids go parents have to follow.
Turning these visits into sales is down to your merchandising,
stock and salesmanship but if there are potential customers
coming to your store there is no excuse for not converting a
proportion of them in to sales.
For those retailers who just want to look after plants and not
livestock, there are still plants that attract kids. Carnivorous
plants and cacti at pocket money prices will always appeal
but tactile plants such as grasses and fluffy-leaved lamb’s
ears (Stachys byzantina) can also be attractive to very young
gardeners once they are supervised and taught how to care
for them. The fragrance and taste of herbs and the scent of
ornamental plants such as lavender are also things that can
appeal to kids, although admittedly not to the same extent as a
lop-eared, doe-eyed bunny.
As mentioned, those are just a few examples and ideas to get
you going and doubtless there are many more. The key thing to
remember is the importance of looking beyond your own sector
for the best practice of others. Analyse, adapt and adopt these
principles, then measure how well they work for you.
Many of these ideas might not apply to your business, but
the very act of looking beyond the norm will bring you in to a
bigger, brighter and perhaps better retail world.
To bring it back full circle to my opening paragraph,
evolution and change are both good for businesses.
And evolution never stops.
LIAM KELLY was general
manager of one of the largest
garden centres in the country,
where he was instrumental
in transforming it into a large
lifestyle store. He established
Retail Services & Solutions in
2007 and has since worked
with many garden centres,
nurseries and hardware stores
in Ireland. He has experienced
every aspect of garden centre
work from maintenance to
sales, and purchasing to management. This combined
with his problem solving ability, honesty and hands-
on work ethic make him unique in his area. He can
appreciate the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day running of a
garden centre better than most, as he knows the products,
mindset and ethos of the Irish garden retail sector.
Liam Kelly - Retail Services & Solutions, 118 Dolmen
Gardens, Pollerton, Carlow. 086 822 1494 or 059 913 0176,
lksolutions@eircom.net
www.lksolutions.blogspot.com