How wonderful it is to see the arrival of some proper spring gardening weather and it has certainly got our Garden Centre Association (GCA) members’ car parks filling up.
At last, we have had a settled period of good weather, while I write this in the first week of April, to get people into their gardens, start using them and indeed get some projects on the go.
Despite being a very committed gardener myself, I’m sure I was not the only one who hardly ventured out into the garden last year, so that pent up demand must be huge.
However, whilst plant sales roared ahead in March, the good news from our GCA Barometer of Trade figures is that it did not diminish the catering, gift and clothing sales at all.
The additional footfall that the good weather brought last month shows transaction numbers were up 12.21% when compared to last year in garden centres overall.
By category, gift sales were up 10.41% in the month and are up 7.1% for the year to date. Clothing sales were also up by 5.18% and year to date by 4.53% compared to March 2024.
Clearly even in the lovely weather, a visit to the garden centre must still include a visit to these other departments, which is great news.
We all know that getting the right weather, at the right time, is by far the most important factor economically for our industry. Then the addition of the non-gardening departments helps sales during non-gardening seasons, or when the weather is not playing ball.
But getting it right, when the gardening season and the weather are in full flow, is also critical as it’s at that time when the huge increase in customer numbers gets exposed to all the offerings within the garden centre.
All departments must remain well stocked and visually well merchandised, giving customers a good positive vibe about each section. Whilst the figures show they are shopping these areas, even in the off-peak times, garden centres will want to be impressing customers, so they will want to return to shop these areas too.
Overall layout and customer flow is also very important to ensure that these areas are getting exposure to your customers all through the year. Consideration must be given to the amount of space each department is given, look at both overall sales and sales per square foot, and consider asking your other contacts in the industry for their figures as a comparison.
Getting the layout, flow and the size of each department correct can improve sales and profitability with little cost or effort. When customers feel comfortable and relaxed in their shopping journey they do spend more.
We can now start to look forward to the start of the gift shows and the preparation for the peak Christmas season. Shows like the Home and Gift Buyers Festival will be with us soon and are a great opportunity to view what suppliers have to offer, to see new suppliers coming into the market and to meet up with colleagues and friends from around the industry. It’s always good to catch up.
