Revamp Your Retail Series: Online and in-store plant buyers
While the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 made purchasing through the cellphone a reality, the horticulture industry is still relatively new to online shopping.
Prior to COVID-19, a small percentage of sales (approximately 5%) were made online. Faced with quarantine and business closures in spring 2021, many more horticultural businesses took the leap to selling plants online. The latest reports indicate that 17.5% of all plant sales were made online in 2021, and that percentage has fallen slightly in the past two years. The latest estimates show that 25% of all retail sales happen online, not in the store — but this obviously varies by product category.
Several studies were conducted in the years during and after COVID to better understand who was buying plants online and how much they were spending. These findings can help plant retailers better understand who and why consumers choose to make plant purchases online rather than in the store.
One study funded by the Horticultural Research Institute (Rihn, Knuth, Huddleston, and Behe 2024, in review in April 2024 by the Journal of Environmental Horticulture) makes those comparisons. The study included 2010 people across the U.S. who either purchased a cut flower, edible plant (vegetable or herb transplant) or foliage plant either online or in a physical retail store.
One key finding from that study was that both channels were used for plant and flower purchases; a consumer rarely used one channel over the other or was active in omnichannel. In other words, the brick-and-mortar store was important to online shoppers and vice versa. Much like other products, consumers are comfortable with both means (online and in-store) to make product purchases.
In the Rihn study, online plant buyers made most of their purchases online; 54% bought no plants in the retail outlet. In-store buyers were somewhat different — only 8% bought no plants online.
Online Bestsellers
What these customers bought online and in-store was also interesting. The research showed that more money was spent online for seeds, flowering potted plants, indoor foliage plants and cut flowers. In-store, more money was spent on herbs, evergreens and perennials. The practical implication of this is to have some online exclusive offerings and some plants sold exclusively in-store. For example, offer some new or novel vegetable or flower seeds online and at a premium price — don’t offer them in the store. You might have a planter on display in the store with a QR code to make that online purchase in the store. Conversely, offer some herb plants or combinations (e.g., salsa herbs, cocktail herbs, pizza herbs) exclusively in the store and not online. Signage would help customers understand this is a limited-time — and place — offer.
When you realize that a premium might be paid on some items and not on others, it might pay higher dividends to offer it in one location but not the other. Be sure to consider shipping costs and plant fragility before making the offer.
Projects and kits are another likely candidate for online sales. With more parents and grandparents seeking fun, nurturing activities with plants, selling kits online makes sense. Intergenerational projects like vegetable gardens can be fun for kids of all ages. Growing root vegetables in a plexiglass-sided container would enable children to see the roots growing.
Bringing Online Shoppers In-Store
Can you drive online shoppers into the store and vice versa? It is worth investigating. Events might just be the right offering to bring online shoppers into the store.
While workshops are fun, parties are even more fun! Consider an event (plant party) at the store for Dry (cacti) January, or either Cocktail Herb Gardens for Cinco de Mayo in May or Friendsgiving in November. The event would have participants build a cactus garden, herb garden or small flower/fruit display and enjoy each other’s company. Limiting enrollment and charging for the event could bring in some extra foot traffic.
Another key research finding from the Rihn et al. study was that there were several differences demographically between in-store and online plant buyers. In other words, the people who buy plants online are somewhat different than people who buy plants in the store. For cut flowers, edible plants and foliage plants, more online buyers were more likely to be younger, have a higher household income, and live in an urban area. Online buyers also spent more time online for work and leisure.
Online purchasers spent more on average for both online ($250.17) and in-store ($151.64) for plants, versus $125.33 in-store plant purchasers spent. Showing consumers interacting with plants who reflect the demographic characteristics of those people making the purchases will help potential customers better relate to the products. This concept, called image congruency, can help to stimulate sales. When people see people who look like they feel interacting with a product they might like, they are more likely to buy that product. (Read more about image congruency in the March 2024 installment, “Revamp Your Retail Series: Signage.”)
The Rihn study also found an inverse relationship between age and online plant shopping (-0.276), following a plant retailer or grower (-0.486), number of social media accounts (-0.569) and being a first-time plant buyer (-0.454). That means younger consumers are more likely to buy online, as well as follow a plant retailer or grower through multiple social media accounts. It isn’t just plant sales that need to be omnichannel; it is communication about plants for sale that needs to be delivered through multiple channels.
Communicating With Customers Online
Because people who buy plants online spend more time and money online, it makes sense to communicate with them online. The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 2, 2020, that online advertising (digital) exceeded the sum of all other forms of media advertising. That significant tipping point is not likely to swing the other way. That means that connecting with many consumers will need to be done increasingly online in order to attract both online and in-store customers.
Many customers are active on social media, and the platform used by age cohort seems to change each year.
Texting is another form of online communication. Text messages can be useful both for in-store and online shoppers to drive them to new offerings shortly after they become available.
Another study (Neumann, Huddleston, and Behe, 2021) showed that the more active an individual was on social media, the more fear of missing out (FOMO) the person experienced. While it isn’t a good practice to fuel FOMO, it is interesting to note that it can drive purchase behavior. One example (of which there are many) occurs when a retailer promotes a short-term retail event of a scarce, unusual or even rare plant by promoting it the day before it goes on sale. Consumers who are active on social media and hungry for the new or novel plant are often willing to pay a premium price and come to the retailer in order to buy the plant.
Online plant sales are here to stay and likely will increase over the coming years, as retailers improve their ability to ship plants and deliver them in great condition. Consumers have become accustomed to buying products online — and plants are no exception.
It is worth noting that there are some products and some people that are better candidates for online sales. Just like in-store sales, keeping good records on what sells (and doesn’t) at what price will help retailers navigate this interesting omnichannel space.
References
Neumann, D.; Huddleston, P.T.; and Behe, B.K. 2021. Fear of Missing Out and Social Media Use: Differential Effects of Priming on Attitudes Towards Product. New Media and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211011834
Rihn, A., Knuth, M.J.; Huddleston, P.T.; Behe, B.K. 2024 (in review in April). Comparison of Online and Instore Plant Buyers. Journal of Environmental Horticulture.
For an enhanced reading experience, view this article in our digital edition.
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