With much of the retail market suffering in the wake of COVID, one specific sector has benefitted. Garden centres have not only weathered the storm well but are showing a positive outlook for the future.
In 2020 and 2021, people were forced to stay home due to the national lock downs and this led to a trend of people improving their living environment both indoors and out. On top of this there has been a desire for many to move out of the cities to the countryside, or to buy a country home escape, and this, taken with a build up of cash not spent on holidays abroad for 2 summers, has produced a mini spending boom on homes and gardens.
Specifically in garden centres, while total annual expenditure grew from £4.08bn in 2015 to £4.38bn by 2021, online sales grew by a dramatic 37.1% in 2020. And this increased spend, whilst unsurprisingly led by the over 65s, is coming from across almost all age groups.
So how have garden centre operators adapted to this increased demand? Lockdown has forced many to improve their online presence and this is helping attract a different audience and promote brand presence in the sector. It is bringing supply and delivery problems with it but not unmanageably so.
Operators have also diversified their offering in store. In recent years we have seen garden centres widen their range from plants and gardening to an extremely broad range of home and garden goods, with increasingly important new profit centres in expanded food and beverage offers, both in farm shops and restaurant/ cafes, themed exhibitions such as Halloween, Easter and Christmas, additional attractions such as show gardens and indoor/outdoor play areas and most recently the addition of supermarket concessions. The focus of the most successful garden centres is to both provide the products that their customers wish to buy, but also to enhance their customers experience and encourage them to return. This means making it easy for people to find their way around, offering free parking closeby, facilities which will draw those with children to occupy and for the elderly to feel comfortable, and a friendly knowledgeable service. This should allow garden centres to remain on trend throughout the entire year with the ability to capitalize on current trends, holidays and events.
So where next? Some garden centres are beginning to test competitive socializing, offering yoga classes, holding farmer’s market events and opening children’s nurseries on site in an effort to further broaden their customer base, increase dwell time on site and further reduce their reliance on plant sales and the associated import, supply line and storage difficulties.
Others are dipping a toe into the high street and opening stores in city centres with products targeted at the urban market where space is at a premium and urban gardening a growing trend. The initial feedback from this approach is very positive, both in terms of focus but also from the younger generations.