Sad Signage?

It still amazes me what people write on their POS signage.

Too many words, negative comments such as 'Dislikes Lime' or 'Hates Sunshine', or worse again no sign at all or something that just says the Latin name of the plant and the price!

Your signs should give people a reason to buy your plants.

Does yours?

March On

After a cold February that seemed to only benefit bird care sales it's good at least that the sun is shining. If last weekend is anything to go by customers are finally coming out of hibernation.

Having said that, the garden centres doing best at the moment are the ones who are well stocked, running events and talks, and those with some on-site food offering.

Preferably all three...

Merchandising, link sales and hot offers are the key to taking advantage of the customers who do come in, so don't be left behind.

Have a great March and call me if you need any help.

Are you ready?

Although it was a pretty rotten January there is still a need for optimism for the coming season.

Good weather could be just around the corner and everyone needs to make the most of it when it comes.

Has your store had a good Spring clean?

Are you adequately stocked?

Have you created a promotion and event planner?

Are you ready to SELL?

Don't get caught on the hop!

Here's to a New Year

Take a close look at the object on the right of the screen. It is in fact a celestial body called 'The Sun'.

Perhaps if we all concentrate on it REALLY hard it might shine this year.

Happy Sunny New Year!

I am now booking Spring planning days so get in touch.

Liam

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...