September 2022 - 12

perspectives
BY ALICIA L. RIHN
Engaging Plant Purchasers Through
Online and In-Person Communications
Plant customers are changing. When
I first started my graduate work, it was
immediately after the Great Recession, and
horticulture customers indicated
plants were luxury goods. Given
the economic environment, this
is not surprising.
Customers, however,
Alicia Rihn is
assistant professor
at the University of
Tennessee. She's a
member of the 40
Under 40 class of
2022 and can be
reached at arihn@
utk.edu.
are now viewing plants as
experience goods where value
is obtained through interacting
and engagement. Customers
have also changed and are
now valuing experiences over
possessions. Together, these
trends demonstrate the added
value plants innately provide
customers and help define part
of the bump in sales observed
during the pandemic.
Online Platforms: During the pandemic,
16 to 18 million new people started
gardening, enriching their daily lives
through interacting with plants and
beautifying their environment.
Many of the new gardeners sought
gardening information online. Figure 1
shows U.S. customers' Google searches for
gardening information from March 2017 to
January 2022, with a substantial bump in
2020 and a smaller bump in 2021.
New (and existing) customers are relying
on online content more than ever before,
meaning information needs to be relevant,
up to date, and available when customers
start seeking it (i.e., February).
Beyond Google, people are still seeking
information on social media platforms, and
electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is one of
the most efficient means of reaching core
customer groups. Beyond the promotional
aspect of eWOM, it is also a way to engage
customers, encouraging sharing visually
attractive displays, photos and videos.
In-person or Online Plant Purchases:
Online purchasing of plants increased
during the pandemic. Expenditures on
plants and landscape items increased by
3.4 to 4.6% from January to July 2020,
12 SEPTEMBER 2022 GPNMAG.COM
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90
80
70
60
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40
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3/5/2017
3/5/2018
3/5/2019
3/5/2020
" Garden " Serarches in the U.S.
Figure 1. Google Trends of " Garden " Searches in the U.S. from March 2017 to January 2022.
relative to the same time period in
2019, which equates to approximately
$306.4 million in additional sales.
Interestingly, people who ordered plants
online but used curbside pickup were
more likely to revert to in-store shopping
after the pandemic. Conversely, people
who ordered plants online and had them
delivered were less likely to revert to
in-store shopping.
Younger customer groups are also more
receptive to purchasing plants online.
E-commerce is likely to become more
popular in the future. Some considerations
if your firm is moving toward e-commerce
include professional website development
and photos, recent reviews, search engine
optimization, easy checkout and delivery/
pickup options, and quality guarantees.
Although in-store purchasing will always
be a popular option, online shopping has
come into our industry, and providing a
professional online presence is a worthy
investment.
Point-of-Sale (POS) Information: POS
information can be online or in-person
but provides relevant information when
customers are selecting products to
purchase. POS includes signage, plant tags,
floor decals, banners, displays and so forth.
When people purchase plants, they
take several predictable steps. First, they
visually skim to make sure the plants meet
a basic need (e.g., a specific color, sun/
shade tolerant, etc.). Then, they pick up
the plant for a closer visual inspection for
quality indicators (e.g., free of damage,
insects, disease). Lastly, they look for
additional information.
This last stage of the decision process
is where the POS information comes into
play and can sway customers toward (or
away from) specific plants. As familiarity
with plants increases, the decision process
speeds up, and having visually salient POS
information can aid consumers' purchasing
process.
With nearly 18 million new customers,
there is a huge opportunity to educate,
engage and aid them in selecting a plant
that will meet their needs. Eco-friendly
plants are very popular among various
customer groups. If the plant is native,
attracts pollinators, aids biodiversity,
attracts birds, improves personal health
and well-being, or provides other benefits,
signs are a good way to communicate this
to interested people.
Every person who walks into a garden
center is interested in buying plants, but
not every person is aware of the valueadded
benefits those plants provide. Part
of our job as an industry is to enlighten the
customer about those benefits.
3/5/2021
Interest over time

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September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2022