Would you like a 53% increase in plant sales next year?

The staff at Angel’s Garden Center crafted a clever display that won a Store-Within-A-Store award from Proven Winners. More significantly: Sales of Proven Winners plants and products went up 53% as a result of the marketing effort.Created solely for independent garden center retailers by Proven Winners, the Store-Within-A-Store concept (SWAS) allows retailers to concentrate a branded product line, supported by in-store merchandising and consumer advertising, in an effort to help a consumer with her overall buying decision.

In an independent research study conducted by StandPoint Marketing in June of 2009, it was shown that plants in Proven Winners  branded containers, when combined with appropriate point-of-purchase tools, outsold plants in generic pots at a rate of nearly 5 to 1. Even when placed side-by-side on the same display, Proven Winners plants in the branded containers outsold the same plants in generic containers 2 to 1. This data proves that consumers are drawn to branded plants and branded packaging—a fact that has proven itself time and time again in other retail environments such as the grocery store or at an apparel outlet.

Judy Sharpton of Growing Places says, “the SWAS concept works because it puts product right in front of a typical time-starved customer who may not be familiar or comfortable with what she is shopping for. This concentrates the product in a certain part of the store and allows her to shop in a defined area. And it helps her to shop by color.”

Judy noted some other advantages, as well:

• The customer can respond to what is around her by making a selection in a reasonable amount of time.
• Displaying the coordinating products in one location enables her to make these selections without feeling overwhelmed and confused.
• This strategy also relieves part of the burden on the staff at a busy time of the year. “SWAS makes the store work harder—not the staff,” she said.
• When placed  deep within the store, the P.O.P. guides the customer to the store-within-a-store location while she is also making contact with additional products along the way.

Dayle Doherty of Angel’s Garden Center, a recent winner in the Proven Winners 2010 SWAS contest, owns a retail garden in a small market and on a busy corner. After attending a Proven Winners Roadshow last fall, they decided to try the SWAS concept. The result was a 53% increase in sales of Proven Winners plants and products. “We used a lot of P.O.P., and our staff was just very committed to the concept. Even if a customer was looking at an annual in a different part of the store it was easy to direct them to our store-within-a-store. Having a Store-Within-A-Store solidified our staff and their overall commitment to helping our customers.”

Before you know it, spring of 2011 will be here. How would the SWAS concept work in your garden center? For more information please visit http://www.pwcertified.com/StoreWithinAStore.