Inventing Eventing

I remember posting previously about how events would be very important to garden centres and other retailers this year and this has turned out to be very true.

And at this time of year the more family orientated events you can do - within reason - the better, so far as bringing people into the your store.

Of course that's only half the battle. Once they are in you need to entice, cajole and persuade them to part with their money. I hope you all have that sorted...

If not, give me a call!

New Logo Launch!

Just launched my new logo today.

I thought it needed a bit of modernisation and flair...

Will post a proper post soon.

5 Tips for Better Bulb Sales

It's almost that time of year again.

The wooden windmills, giant daffs and over-sized clogs need to be brought out of storage and dusted down. The stands stripped, cleaned and readied for the first delivery... and don't forget the 'Bulbs Galore' banner!

 Autumn bulb sales are such an important part of the garden centre season for many reasons; they help to kick start Autumn planting time, they add colour to your shop display, and most importantly, they are a great money maker and draw if done correctly.
 Too many people forget this last point and have let their bulbs order dwindle to next to nothing, a pitiful display just before the checkout.

 So here are a few tips to stimulate those bulbs sales:

Stock Up
Make sure you have enough lines to make a decent display. It's easy to get in to a downward spiral of less stock = less sales from one year to the next.


Make Room
Give over plenty of prominent space to your display, preferably close to your entrance from plant sales to the shop area. Don't forget that little bit of theatre too.


Colour Block
Apart from promotion ranges, it's better to colour block your core range than go with a boring A-Z. Apart from how it looks, colour blocking makes it much easier to merchandise and re-merchandise.


Link Sell
The above mentioned colour blocking makes it easy to tie coloured pots with bulb ranges, plus other added sales. Don't foget you need trowels and bulb planters with your bulbs as well as you tools. And don't forget the blood, fish and bonemeal!


Plan for Profit
Look at your profit and margin over the full bulb season. Take full margin, apart from a few offers, at the start of the season but don't be afraid to discount, and discount again towards the end of the season. You should still have a healthy margin when you check your final figures, and hopefully no stock if you get your timing right.
Oh, and use your EPOS system to weed out the slow sellers from the previous season and increase the winning lines.


 Ok, so there's a lot more to it than these few points but at least start thinking about what you can do to improve your sales.

 Enough preaching from me, go look at your bulb order again...

Hard Rain

As you can see my plan to post something at least once a month has gone slightly astray!

What a difficult season...

It really has been a year for getting the most from every single customer that passes the threshold.

Is your POS signage up to scratch?
How's your customer care and selling skills?
Link sales visible and pushed?
Good offers in place?

It has also struck me that this season has been a season for the avid gardener, as they are the only ones who will garden come hail, rain or - if we're lucky - shine.
Have you everything THEY want? Unusual plants, quality products and a good general range?

 Food for thought...

5 Tips to Increase Pot Sales

Stock Up! 
It's easy to get into a downward spiral of 'stock not selling so therefore I'll reduce stock quantities.' Before you know it you have just a few pots in a corner and you're wondering why your sales have dropped so much! I know it's often quoted but 'If you don't have it you can't sell it.'
Don't get trapped.

All Change
If stock isn't selling then reduce it, clear it and start again. Did you buy the right product to start with? For example terracotta sells best in the summer and blue doesn't sell much anymore. Have you asked your customers what they want?Have you the right supplier? Can they offer you value, range and service? If not then drop them and try someone new. Change is good.

Merchandise for the Eyes
Be clever, practical and creative with your pot display. Can your customers access all your pots? Are the themed by colour, style and type? Can you see all of them? Chances are you will answer 'No' to some of those questions...
Strip it down and start again!

The Missing Link?
Don't just have pots with pots, have pots with plants! Build pots into plant displays to increase link sales. Red square topped pots look great with Buxus cones, basic terracotta with herbs, strawberry pots with, er, strawberries. Then perhaps combine them together into a deal price.
Show it off to sell it.

Add-on to Add-up
Be a little pushy with add-on sales. Pots are an easy sell with plants. Have a stock of basic black stackable pots on offer at the checkout and get staff to suggest them to customers with appropriate plant purchases. The same is true for hanging baskets by the way!
If you don't ask... 

Of course these tip will only work if that large yellow ball in the sky comes out to play!

The Magic Sales Kingdom

I was in Disneyland Paris recently and what stuck most in my head, apart from the tune to "It's a small small world", was how well done everything was.
The place was tidy, well run and efficient. The "Cast Members" were incredibly nice, and not in a false way, and the shops so well stocked and merchandised. The Disney stores ability to hoover money from peoples pockets into their tills was incredible.
Ok, I know we are talking on a different scale but isn't it a pity that many garden centres can't aspire to even a little touch of the magic from The Magic Kingdom? Are the top garden centres here on a par with the top retailers and destinations in the world in general? We seem to lower the bar and give away star ratings based on comparisons to other centres and not other retailers or experiences.
This was brought home to me last year when I visited a garden centre which had been judged a week or so before my visit for the garden centre awards. It was three stars at best, but lo and behold when the awards were announced it had achieved a 5 star status!

I guess in the land of the blind the one eyed man IS king!

Not so in The Magic Kingdom...

Promote! What?

How do you manage value promotions?

An interesting case in point for garden centres is the humble winter heather. Over the last number of years garden centres have promoted a mid-sized heather. Retailing perhaps at €3.99 and then on offer at 3 for €10. What could work better is a smaller sized plant that appears to be – and in reality is - better value. Consider plants at €2.50 each and 10 for €20. Which could be advertised to better reaction? Which is the better long-term deal for the customer? Which is making you more cash profit?

This example can be applied to many lines. Keep an eye on your cash profit and not just your margin. Here is another example from the garden centre sector – the Camellia. Many sell a smallish plant that sells for €11.99 or €12.99, but what if you took the cash profit that you would make on the smaller size and applied it to the next size up? You would have a Camellia for €14.99 that would be perhaps twice the plant of the smaller one. The perceived value to the customer would be greater and you are make the same cash profit per plant.

Could you even apply the same rational to a set of furniture? This idea might seem to contradict the heather example above but they are two different offers for two different styles of plants, and both could work. Also both work on the principle of maximising cash profit per sale while giving value to the customer.