Have You Heard?
Have you heard who won the title of Lawn & Garden Retailer’s 2016 Merchandiser of the Year?
If not, I’m here to spoil the surprise. Top honors go to Distinctive Gardens in Dixon, Illinois, with its Shop Story concept. Congratulations to them and all our finalists!
Read all about the garden center’s unique displays and transforming ideas in the September/October issue as well as on our website.
When speaking with owner Lisa LeFevre, the topic of POS systems came up. Distinctive Gardens has adopted a mobile system that allows its staff to go to the customer and ring them up instead of the customer coming to them.
This begs one important question: what about cash sales?
“Cash sales in a mobile environment and in a greenhouse are a bit challenging. We have to make it employee friendly, i.e., lightweight and not bulky,” LeFevre said. “We do have an area that can be described as an ‘old school’ checkout that is inside the shop. The iPad is mounted. It has a regular register cash drawer as part of the unit. However, I am seriously considering eliminating that inside checkout to help further adoption of this mobile model.”
I want to know what you’ve found works best at your garden center. Have you changed your system recently or are you thinking of doing so? What do customers say?
Let me know at [email protected].
A Trip to Europe
Since last arriving in your inbox, I took a vacation to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, and from the first city, my mind was on flowers.
It helped that right near my hotel in Amsterdam was Bloemenmarkt, the world’s only “floating flower market.” It has garden shops on garden shops that appear to be floating in the canal.
We posted some photos on Facebook for you to take a look at.
The one thing I noticed in every garden center and flower market while on my trip is how many people were buying just a couple items. I even talked to one of the shoppers who told me they come by a few times a week.
It might be the urban environment or availability, but that sure seems like a lifestyle!
Cheers,
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