November/December 2022 - 55

FRESH PERSPECTIVES
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" Garden " Serarches in the U.S.
Figure 1. Google Trends of " Garden " Searches in the U.S. from March 2017 to January 2022.
2019, which equates to approximately $306.4 million in
additional sales in 2020.
Interestingly, people who ordered plants online but
used curbside pickup were more likely to revert to in-store
shopping after the pandemic. Some factors that may have
driven this trend are living close enough to the retailers to
drive and pick up the plants, and enjoyment of the on-site
shopping experience.
Conversely, people who ordered plants online and
had them delivered were less likely to revert to instore
shopping. These results may be due to increased
familiarity and trust with the online experience and online
stores delivering high-quality plants without damage.
Additionally, the online order and delivery option opens
opportunities for access to a wider variety of plant
selections and improved efficiency for individuals who do
not live near garden centers or have limited free time to
go plant shopping.
Younger customer groups are also more receptive to
purchasing plants online. E-commerce is likely to become
more popular among customer groups 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 or pickup options, and quality guarantees.
Although in-store plant 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 Information: Point-of-sale (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 the area/
plants to make sure the plants meet a basic need (e.g., a
specific color, sun/shade tolerant, etc.). Then, they will
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 value-added benefits those plants provide. Part of
our job as an industry is to enlighten the customer about
those benefits.
Alicia Rihn is assistant professor at the University of
Tennessee. She's a member of the GPN 40 Under 40 class of
2022 and can be reached at arihn@utk.edu.
LGRMAG.COM | 55
3/5/2021
Interest over time

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