Garden Centres

How to Keep Your Garden Centre Thriving 

The nation’s love for plants has grown, flourished, and blossomed. Gardening became an all-important national pastime during the pandemic and, for many, that healthy habit has continued. 

Did you know that approximately 83% of houses in the UK have a garden, with the average adult spending £690 on their garden in 2021? 

However, the coming months could pose problems for keen gardeners as winter takes hold. Here, we will explore factors that could impact your business, as well as ways of maintaining a competitive edge in the market throughout winter. 

Heading into the end of 2022, your garden centre may need some extra help to continue bringing in customers and, in turn, profit. 

The winter months bring their own challenges, and the cold weather necessitates a transition for everyone. 

During the cost of living crisis in the colder months, garden centres, like most retail outlets, could face a downturn in profit. Customers are likely to spend less and perhaps don’t have as much time or inclincation to enjoy leisure activities such as gardening. Maintaining a competitive edge, not only over other garden centres but also supermarkets, can be difficult. 

A great marketing tool is to show off a glorious floral display. Keeping your product looking bright and healthy is the best way to draw in customers. 

Tailor to the festive season

As winter approaches, so does the festive season. Tailoring your garden centre to accommodate the demand for Christmas cards, decorations, and other assorted gifts could benefit your business. Using a quality card supplier is a great way to offer something unique and stylish to your customers. 

You should also host events such as Santa’s grotto or wreath-making classes. This will attract families with young children to come to your garden centre, those who are looking for Christmas-based activities. Offering photograph opportunities could be a chance to increase your income too. 

Think about sustainability 

Reputation is important for every business and a garden centre is no different. Choosing partnerships aligned with a sustainable nature can benefit your business. 

Maintaining sustainability standards could promote your garden centre as an environmentally conscious venue. Amid the climate change debate, with 81% of people claiming they’d rather buy products from sustainable sellers, this could be very important. Consider working in partnership with a sustainable card supplier or food manufacturer. 

Equally, garden centres are full of time – and season – sensitive stock, so consider promoting reuse and recycling of products alongside seasonal sales. 

A gardening masterclass

Offering gardening masterclasses can help encourage customers to make regular trips to your centre. Teaching customers how to care for their plants and pass on other areas of expertise could establish your garden centre as a hub of education and for gardeners of all levels.

As the cost of living crisis makes the price of products increase, reducing food bills through sustainable, home-grown methods is becoming more popular. Tapping into this could give you a competitive edge. Selling books on how to grow your own food at home, as well showing off examples of what is possible and a wide range of seeds and bulbs to start the process off, could be a good way of introducing your garden centre as an alternative option. 

Sources:

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/business/notcutts-garden-centre-reports-growing-turnover-9226034 

https://www.gardenpatch.co.uk/gardening-statistics/ 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/may/07/how-to-grow-your-own-fruit-veg-cut-food-bills 

https://www.recyclinglives.com/news/general/report-reveals-81-people-prefer-buy-sustainable-sellers#:~:text=Report%20reveals%20that%2081%25%20of%20people%20prefer%20to%20buy%20from%20sustainable%20sellers,-An%20independent%20study 

https://www.patchplants.com/gb/en/read/plant-care/root-rot-how-to-spot-it-and-fix-it/