In horticultural retailing the norm seems to be to visit other garden centres to try to learn from, or improve on, what they are doing. Although we all know that this is certainly a helpful exercise it does tend to limit your ideas from a general retailing point of view. Most good ideas don’t come from garden centres but from high street (or these days retail park) shops. Yet when have you ever heard of a group of garden centres descending on a group of non-gardening retailers en masse to try to learn from, discuss and apply what they are doing? I think it’s the exception rather the norm.
I this day and age it is no longer good enough to just look at the best retailers in gardening, we also need to look into the best retailers in general. For example when did you ever visit an Aldi or Lidl? Too proud to walk through their doors? I bet your bank manager and his missus aren’t!
Open your eyes to more retailers. Check out the most profitable and pay them a visit. I guarantee you will learn at least one important thing from them.
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