Settling Into the Lifestyle Trend
Q I’ve been hearing a lot about how I need to incorporate more “lifestyle” elements into my garden center, but it takes money and time to change up displays and get in more inventory. If I were going to make incremental changes, where should I start?
It’s always going to be a challenge to “read the tea leaves” and know what will be the next hot thing to attract the buying public. I recall one year when our garden center had a display at the city’s annual lawn and garden show, one of the booths was selling wrought-iron shepherd hooks. The display was set up to illustrate how the hooks could be used for hanging everything from bird feeders to flower baskets. It was the first year anyone had offered this product. By the end of the show, I lost count of the number of people who walked by carrying one of those hooks. The following year, every booth was selling them. Rather than jump on the bandwagon and try to fill your store with last year’s hot seller, it seems more prudent to start where you are strongest right now.
For example, if your center caters to urban dwellers who buy more plants to fill containers than flowerbeds, then beefing up your inventory with accessories that go with container gardening would be a good place to start. Here’s where something like the shepherd hooks could be a good investment. But rather than pile the hooks in a corner, help your customers see how many ways they could use the accessory. Set up a display of planted containers with the hooks holding items such as birdhouses, stained-glass lanterns or hummingbird feeders, and offer those products, too. One garden center quickly sold out of containers, plants and hooks when mothers of June brides spied displays of containers planted in wedding-themed colors with the hooks holding flower balls. The mothers weren’t interested in buying just one container; they wanted enough to line the entire walk to the church. And they paid the nursery to plant and deliver them.
Embrace Creativity
Create a reputation for filling a niche that isn’t currently being served in your market. If you simply do more of what is already being done, the only comparison shoppers will have is who is selling the product at the lowest price. The trick seems to be to offer the product in a unique way. One store owner decided to expand his business into backyard water features. But instead of trying to sell ponds of every size and shape, he stocked one standard type that he knew would fit most of his customers’ yards. He offered the pond installed for one price in a package deal. It was easy for customers to understand the offer, and they liked the idea that it would be set up and installed by someone who knew what he was doing. This is much like electronic stores who are selling not only flat-screen TVs but also a crew that will come and install it. As the success of his “one pond installed” idea took hold, he began expanding his inventory to include a variety of pond accessories, such as special water plants, lighting, water wheels and statuary. To advertise his product, he had some high-quality photos taken and mailed out postcards to residents in his area as an early-bird spring special. Soon he became the region’s No. 1 pond guy.
I’ve witnessed other creative approaches to our changing market. Much has been made of the shift from people who were the do-it-yourselfers to busy homeowners who want things done for them. One garden center owner decided to beef up her business in what is typically the off-season by offering design and installation services for customers who wanted their front doors and homes decorated for all the fall and winter holidays. Not only did she sell the typical seasonal accents such as chrysanthemums, Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees, but she offered a crew to set up lights and displays at the homes. For shoppers who are used to paying for lawn services, this seemed like an easy choice they were eager to embrace. Her employees were busy from late September and well into January, putting up and taking down seasonal lights and decorations.
Refresh Your Visibility
You may have already incorporated a number of great lifestyle products into your store’s inventory, but your customers aren’t really seeing them. So another thought is to be open to ways to freshen the look of your displays. Much like our homes, we tend to get used to seeing things in certain ways, and the clutter can pile up without really noticing it. It could be money well spent to hire the services of an interior designer whose reputation you respect, especially if they have experience in retail marketing. You could arrange for them to do a walkthrough with you to look and discuss ideas and pay them an hourly fee. Make it clear that you aren’t interested in moving walls or doing an entire remodeling of the shop. Ask for specific ways to rearrange your products so customers can easily find what they are looking for but directs their attention to the items you most want them to see. One designer pointed out that we all have a tendency to glance to our right as we enter the room. Just by setting up a display of high-margin items in that strategic location, more customers noticed and bought that product.
The point to these various approaches is much like the saying, “Don’t try to boil the ocean.” Focusing on one or two critical areas will yield greater returns than trying to reinvent the way you run your business. Using a step-wise approach will help you gauge what works for your business so you can move into the lifestyle components of outdoor living in a way that makes sense for your bottom line.
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