It’s the season of the gift fairs and it’s also the time to be thinking
about Christmas. I believe there is huge opportunity for retail garden centres to capitalise on the Christmas trading period. Garden Centres in the UK and throughout Europe have developed a synonymous thought within the consumers psyche that Christmas and Garden Centres go hand in hand. This has focused around the sales generated by the tradition of many consumers having a fresh cut Christmas tree in their home. With this tree comes a wide variety of associated gift lines, decorations and summer living stock lines with opportunity to boost your sales over this highly competitive trading period.Buying Christmas Stock
In a recent article in Greenworld Magazine, Debra Templar looks at a number of simple key approaches to buying stock. Debras guidelines to buying are fantastic, and revolve around purchasing stock that suits your existing customer base.
Taking risks when buying Christmas stock (i.e. – something which may appeal to you, but not necessarily the consumer) is not a good idea unless you have the sales staff and business skills to shift this stock. Keeping it simple and thematical is the key. Be aware of what ‘themes’ the big box stores are focusing on, but do not try to compete with them. Chose two themes with a focus on providing Christmas solutions, and sell these ideas hard to the consumer. Your goal as a retailer is to provide one stop solutions for the consumers’ needs and desires.
Christmas Stock Control
Christmas is a condensed selling season, with stock lines that become defunct as of the 26th of December. With this in mind, discounting stock should be avoided, but is often inevitable as the last thing you want is capital tied up in stock which can not be moved until the next September when people start to think about Christmas again. Be aware that sales generated from discounting after 25th December may actually return less margin than discounting the last week prior to Christmas. This is due to the ability to take opportunity of those consumers who have a greater need to buy something (desperation) as opposed to those out looking for a bargain (money scroungers). There is a significant difference between needing and wanting, and this can work to your advantage in moving stock at the last minute. Additionally, do remember that you will reap the greatest margin throughout October and November, than you will in December when you begin discounting as are starting to worry about having stock leftover - this will invariably eat into your overall return.In my opinion, you shouldn’t even consider storing the ‘leftover’ stock. Christmas is primarily a trend driven event, designed to make people spend money on consumerables none of us really need. Therefore, what is in season this year is unlikely to be the trend of next. This makes choosing stock challenging, but remember Christmas is all about tradition, and the green and red theme is a failsafe option. So with this in mind, having money tied up in gift lines which really don’t produce a huge return without serious turnover, in addition to the cost of space for storage, and the labour required to package the stock lines into boxes for storage – each of these points results in a negative effect by chewing into your overall return on investment.
Merchandising Stock
Merchandising Christmas stock is similar to any other retail line. It must be cleanly displayed, shopable and provide inspiration and impulse. Try to tie as much existing stock lines in with your Christmas displays and themes, as this may allow for a portion of your Christmas lines to be sold even after Christmas as the thoughts to ‘Summer and Outdoor Living’ kick into the consumers minds.
Impulse lines in my mind have the greatest opportunity for serious return, if you market yourselves accordingly. The Christmas period is the time for giving with teachers, colleagues, friends and families all in the running for something nice. You have the opportunity to supply the gift givers with something unique. Personalise every plant that leaves your store – gift wrapping is overall inexpensive and one of the best ways to sell yourselves throughout this period. Every gift wrapped item may contain a fancy sticker holding the ribbon up, and letting the consumer know who you are – ‘Gift Wrapped with love by AC Garden Centre – Phone Us On…’
The image here with the black and pink theme is titled ‘Midnight in Manhattan
’, and was featured at Wyevale Garden Centres across Britain. The stage set shows the consumer what they can achieve in their own home, linking decorations and table settings to provide the complete package.Point of sale is clean and concise and supports the product which through the way it is merchandised will ultimately sell itself. Display units are non-descript and minimal, allowing again for the product to show itself off.
Another key point to note in this image is the use of down lighting on the walls of the stage set. Lighting is incredibly important in highlighting gift lines, while providing an ambience that makes the consumer feel important, and that the product is important.
The way you merchandise stock should ultimately make the consumer feel that the pink bauble they are reaching for is ‘made of gold and filled with diamonds’ – it must appear to hold an extraordinary value, even if it doesn’t.
Cut Christmas Trees are Opportunity
Cut Christmas trees, albeit a sin amongst the thoughts of many of us, are undoubtedly a source of income during the Christmas period. We see on the roadsides in the lead up to Christmas, the local charities selling the freshly cut pines to the punters. There may be opportunity to align yourself with these charities by offering them ‘space’ in your garden centre with the trade off being that you will market the product and availability for them. This will generate footfall throughout December providing opportunity to capitalise on the new found custom.
Freshly cut trees are a traditional theme of Christmas, and we must curb our negativity as the green industry in providing these to the consumer. Your decision to offer this desirable stock line will be no doubt influenced by whether you fall into the category of a retailing horticulturalist or a horticultural retailer. If you feel that it goes against your principles there are still plenty of options for making the cut Christmas tree market ‘environmentally sustainable’ for you. Have a ‘used on return’ policy whereby old tress post Christmas may be returned to your for chipping – this may then be used on your display beds or donate this to a local school. The provision of cut trees offers a wide variety of opportunity for you to market your nursery in linking in with local communities.
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Customer Service
With the new found custom of another breed of buyers, be aware that their first trip to the garden centre during this time will need to be suitably impressive. Make sure staff are smiling, they are trained in product knowledge (very important) and ensure patience is practiced. Patience truly will be a virtue, and being able to manage indecisive customers and guide buying decisions is important, but these are all customer service 101 skills which you have all heard before.
I remember how exciting Christmas was as a child, the thought of receiving gifts from Santa, decorating the house and bickering (with love) with my siblings. I feel a similar excitement these days in the lead up to Christmas, except now it revolves around the opportunities for retailers during this period. Opportunity for retailers to capitalise on this period is phenomenal, so give it a go and get festively excited!
