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.

What will bring customers in to your store?

Of course sunshine is the obvious one but as we don’t have control over that then try something else. One big thing for this season should be EVENTS, both within the store and outside of it. Most stores do the usual talks and demos, and with so many retailers competing with each other for customers you need to stand out from the crowd. What most businesses need is an event manager, either in-house or an external company. You need people who know how to draws potential customers into your store. In general the wackier, more fun and less like hard work the event is the better. So, for example, invite a visiting circus to visit you. Think jugglers juggling flower pots, clowns doing face painting, camel rides, elephant manure, stilt walkers watering your hanging baskets and so on! Pop-up shops have become more popular too, both as a way of selling stock and also of building brand awareness. They require more than a little planning and an excellent – not just good – location but they can pay dividends for both the pop-up and the main store. Brand awareness has also become a major issue with many retailers, especially the larger ones where the signs and adverts for franchisees and suppliers have become bigger than those of the store itself. An issue I have spotted with some of aforementioned pop-up shops is the almost total lack of branding to link the store to its parent store – a major mistake. (Part of an article on Trends & Thoughts 2012, more to follow...)

Inspiration Everywhere...

You can find retail inspiration everywhere you go... I was wandering down a street in suburban Antwerp last week and came across this shop.

Look at the plants. Look at the pots. Look at the name and lettering. Take a closer look at the window...

Spot the apples yet? The butterflies? Look inside the door...

As I say, you can be inspired anywhere!

GLEE 2011 - Are you ready?

GLEE in the NEC in Birmingham is fast approaching and although the show is smaller than it was a few years back it still takes time and organisation to get around it efficiently. So here's a few tips from a GLEE veteran... Make a list of the suppliers you HAVE to see at the show and get them out of the way first. If possible book time with them before hand and keep to a schedule. Don't waste time with suppliers who you don't need to see - those who will call to you for example - be friendly but tell them to make an appointment to see you over the next few weeks. Leave a good deal of time, at least half, to looking for/at new lines and categories that would be a good addition to your present offering. Take their details but not their catalogues, get them to post them to you or you will be wore down! Don't forget to network with other garden centres with regard to proven lines and tips for new suppliers. Take a chill-out break every now and again - get some fresh air outside or in the centre courtyard - and most importantly, wear comfortable shoes!

Watch Out for the Tumble Weeds!

I've been very neglectful of my Blog over the last few months, I've been busy, but that's no excuse. Things have eased of a bit now so I have a little breathing space to catch up.
I promise to post at least once a month from now on!