Do you deliver?
Living in a small town, Uber Eats isn’t something we use much. Heck, it took me almost a year after downloading Uber to actually open the app — I just can’t see ordering a ride from one end of my half-mile-square-foot town to the other. It would take longer to locate a driver than to hoof it! But booking a ride from the airport to my hotel when I’m traveling, on the other hand, has become de rigueur.
So when I saw that Uber and Ace Hardware had teamed up to put Ace’s merchandise on the Uber Eats app, I have to say I felt a little jealous of those who do live in less-than-tiny towns. How convenient it would be to order a bag of potting soil when I’m getting the garden planted and find that I didn’t have as much soil as I thought, or have new gardening gloves delivered when mine didn’t last the winter.
In the press release, Uber said the collaboration extends Uber Eats’ aim to expand into “everyday retail categories, including home improvement, beauty, electronics and more.” Last year, Uber Eats added 50,000-plus retail locations across the U.S. to its platform. I’m hearing more and more of garden retailers joining Uber Eats and DoorDash, either specifically during busy holidays like Mother’s Day and Easter, or as an added service to help busy customers. Is your store using these apps? I’d love to hear more — drop me a line at tmcpherson@greatamericanpublish.com to let me know.
Also In This Issue
As I write this, Mother’s Day is a few weeks away — but for you, the spring rush might be tapering off. Here, John Kennedy shares tools and strategies for a successful fall season. By creating a culture of accountability, implementing a strategy to reward success and focusing on “a few things done very well instead of a lot of things not done well at all,” he writes, you can close your fall season strong.
This year’s Axiom Gardening Outlook Study found that more than 50% of consumers plan to spend the same or more time gardening this year. However, while many garden centers deliver exceptional in-store experiences, they struggle to provide that same experience online. Here, Jeff O’Brien details what he calls the Garden Center Growth Engine — a system to support the entire customer journey, from discovery to purchase.
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