Think outside the (big) box

How much do you really know about the gardening your customers are doing (or not)? Do you know how many of them are shopping just at your store, or are splitting their purchases between your store and the area’s big box stores? How much are customers spending in each product category? Are they using technology to help them make gardening decisions and learn more about the plants they’re buying? As the saying goes, knowledge is power, which is why we’ve teamed up with Trone Brand Energy for an in-depth research project to find out the answers to these questions, and more. 785 gardeners from across the country responded to our survey. Over the next few pages we share some of the answers we received.

When you’ve finished getting to know your typical customers through our research, check out Leslie Finical Halleck’s article on manners to find out how to make those customers feel welcome and have a pleasant experience in your store.
 

Who answered our survey?

How we did it
The online study was fielded in June of 2013 to the OpinionsatTrone panel. 785 responses were collected yielding a 95% confidence level with a margin of error of +/-3.5 points.

The percentages referred to in the report are from the ‘top two box’ scores, based on a six-point Likert scale. Trone Brand Energy prefers this to the more common five-point scale because it eliminates the default neutral position (box 3 in a five-point scale) and adds meaning to the findings by not including those indicating marginal agreement (box 4 in the six-point scale).

Trone Brand Energy (High Point, N.C.) is one of the largest independent, full-service brand communication agencies in the Southeast. For most of their 31 years in business they have been delivering thought-leading branding and marketing communication solutions to the lawn and landscape industry.

To learn more about them visit their website: TroneBrandEnergy.com.
 

Buying habits and purchasing preferences
When you look at the stats below, you can see that more than half of the consumers polled buy at least some of their plants at independent garden centers, typically visiting one to two stores (IGCs or mass retailers) per year. However, many customers would choose an IGC over a mass retailer for their knowledgeable staff (65% versus 43%). Also, 65% of respondents shop at IGCs because they prefer to shop local. Across the board, consumers are looking for the best selection of plants and flowers, and look for those that are the healthiest, highest-quality specimens, and 77% planned to spend the same or more compared to 2012. A significant number of respondents spend up to $50 a year on flowers and edibles (in-ground and in containers), the most popular green goods categories.

What this means for your garden center

• Giving great customer service is still one of the best ways to differentiate your garden center.
• Continuing to offer a great selection of high-quality plants is crucial to attracting and retaining customers who would otherwise visit big box stores.
• Emphasizing your local roots in your marketing is a good move.
   

How they garden and what they know
How often are you able to sit down with a customer and pick her brain about how and why she gardens? According to our survey, the majority of customers garden for their health, to have a pleasant space to spend time in, because it adds value to their homes and/or simply because they enjoy gardening. Most gardeners add or replace plants and/or flowers once or twice a year, with in-ground flowers being the most popular, followed closely by container plants in general. For the most part, respondents feel comfortable asking for help in the store, and are knowledgeable about the basics, although most of them depend on tags, labels and signs for additional basic information. Very few know the Latin names of plants, and more than half struggle with the common names as well.

What this means for your garden center

• There is room for growth by educating more customers on succession planting and plants for different seasons.
• Pictures on signage are important for those customers who don't know the names of the plants they're seeking.
• Emphasizing the health aspects of gardening in your marketing could be helpful.
   

Use of technology
Are you satisfied with your current website, or does it leave something to be desired? About 40% of customers are screening your store via your website before shopping there, and most are looking at one to three different websites before choosing their destination. And about 75% of consumers report searching for plant information and troubleshooting problems online; more than 60% of those customers are checking out garden centers' websites in their search for information. Finding out about product availability and pricing are also popular reasons for visiting IGCs' websites. Just over a third of those polled used their mobile device to view the websites.

What this means for your garden center

• Maintaining a good database of plant information and troubleshooting tips is a great way to connect with customers.
• Mobile-friendly websites are becoming increasingly important.
• Providing product information on your website is valuable to consumers.