Jul 26, 2016
On the RoadBy Abby (Kleckler) McGarry

Summer is a busy time for travel, and between all the garden center tours and trade shows, I return from each trip with a plethora of ideas (that I hope you’ll find useful).

Text codes were a double whammy, making their way into conversations both on the Garden Centers of America Tour in Portland, Oregon, and at Cultivate’16 in Columbus, Ohio.

Horticultural Marketing & Printing gave us a run-through at Cultivate’16 of how these text codes on the tags work. If the customer sends a text, the retailer has the opportunity to communicate back to them by bringing up more information that can’t fit on the tag. Retailers can customize this information based on GPS and can even recommend tie-in products.

Monrovia mentioned during the GCA Summer Tour that they have seen a lot of success with this program in the past year of its rollout and plan to expand it in the future.

Do you see the potential of the text code for your garden center? Or is it just the next QR code (at least you don’t have to download an app for this)? Let me know at [email protected].

Ready for the IGC Shows?

If you haven’t already, make sure you pick up the July issue of Lawn & Garden Retailer. It’s filled to brim with new variety information from California Spring Trials, advice if you plan to exit the business, tips about getting more for your hanging baskets and snapshots from Minnesota garden centers.

There are also dozens of products that you can expect to see at EIGC – The Eastern Show for IGCs (Aug. 2-4) at Valley Forge Casino Resort in Pennsylvania and IGC Chicago (Aug. 16-18) at Navy Pier in Chicago.

Let me know if you’ll be attending and what catches your eye while you’re there. In the meantime, feel free to send me the best Philly cheesesteak recommendations as I pack my bags.

Cheers,

Abby

 


Abby (Kleckler) McGarry

Abby (Kleckler) McGarry is the managing editor of Lawn & Garden Retailer. Contact her at [email protected].