Same difference

Considering the year that’s in it and how the word ‘independence’ is thrown around in newspaper articles, on social media and in everyday conversation, I find it ironic that retail is increasingly heading towards a world where every main street, shopping centre and the retail park has the same clatter of stores selling the same products, merchandised in the same way, and at the same prices.

This is hardly a new phenomenon and it’s one that has been documented by brighter minds than mine and is surely a subject for discussion by the retail sector as a whole before everywhere becomes Anytown, Ireland.

But my core focus is, of course, the garden retail sector and although there are a few garden centre chains spread across the country selling the same products in their stores – albeit not every store within a group has the same standard with regard to merchandising, quality or customer service – my focus is on the independent garden centres.

And it is here that I see a definite creep towards ‘same stock, different store’ – to paraphrase a well know saying. It has become increasingly noticeable that there can be an 80% overlap in the products that most garden centres stock compared to their closest rival, with one or two exceptions.

This is of course entirely logical, as the better producers and suppliers who are at the top of their game from a quality, stock levels, price and order/delivery standpoint, quickly become the go-to suppliers for a particular product. From plants to containers, compost to garden care, furniture to bird care, barbecues to garden ornaments, and a host of other products, garden centres are all becoming temples for the ‘best practice’ suppliers of this country, and those beyond our borders to an increasing degree.

This is hardly a bad thing in many ways and is certainly less of an issue for those with a large catchment area and little competition. The issue is, where will it stop? As customers travel more and see more, do they become jaded by this homogenous world we are creating? Personally, I feel we are beginning to see this already along with the whispered remarks by customers who say, ‘Oh, it’s very like such-and-such garden centre, isn’t it?’

I’m sure everyone has heard that said, although many don’t see it as a problem.

The danger is that garden centres have become justifiably complacent about from whom and from where they purchase. They don’t look for new suppliers or stock because their existing ones have made it so easy for them. This attitude could surely kill innovation and uniqueness, albeit with increased efficiency and profits in the short term.

Poorly run wholesale nurseries and other garden centre suppliers must take a great deal of the blame for this sameness too, as they make it very easy to not buy from them due to poor quality, outdated buying/logistic systems and their, ‘Ah well it’ll be grand’ attitude. For example, there are a great many plants being sourced from outside the country because many Irish nurseries don’t have webshops, consistency or the efficiency of their UK or continental counterparts, or the willingness to work together to make things easier for the plant purchasers in garden centres. There is more irony in the fact that many of the garden centres who are perceived to be the biggest proponents of Irish plant promotion source huge amounts of what they sell from outside the country. A subject for another article perhaps.

So, what can be done about this potentialslippery slope that garden centres are now on? Well lots really, but let’s look at three.

EDUCATE YOUR SUPPLIERS TO BEST PRACTICE

Suppliers – especially nurseries – need to be convinced by retailers of the need to up their game. They need to be aware that being proficient in one aspect of their business is no longer enough. There was a time when quality plants were all that was needed to drive sales but now retailers – driven by their customers’ needs – want large information labels, coloured pots, barcoding, efficient ordering/delivery systems, season-relevant stock, etc. Many wholesale nursery managers should get out of their polytunnels and into the garden centres they hope to supply, to work for a day or two in the places where plants are sold to the end user. Talk to customers, talk to salespeople, and interact with the business they wish to sell to, look at how a best practice nursery operates from order to goods inward, to shopping trolley. There are many good growers in the country who are let down by their inability to recognise a garden centre’s needs and those of the end customer, as well as the frankly ham-fisted way they market themselves and their products. The same applies to all other product suppliers too. Retailers need to work with wholesalers to make sure that the buyers in garden centres have a better selection of providers that they can depend on in order to be more diverse in what they offer.

INFLICT YOUR BRAND ON THE CUSTOMER

Self-branding is another area where garden centres can be pretty poor. They will proudly flash brands that mean nothing to their customer just because they have a banner or point-of-sale sign from a supplier. There are of course certain brands that need to be specifically mentioned or highlighted due to their following or because they are leaders in their sector, but these are very few in reality. The garden centre’s brand should be on all POS information and signage as reinforcement to the customer of where they are shopping. This ties in with product rebranding too, which can become a shady practice when you are rebranding a product just for the sake of it. Should own-brand compost, for example, be a reformulated mix and not just what others sell at a lower or higher price? Should own-brand furniture be exclusively designed for you and not just a rebadged set that sells under a different name elsewhere? This leads us down the road of ethics in retailing. Yet another area for further discussion.

BE PROACTIVE WHEN PLANNING AND PURCHASING

Being different requires effort, as buyers need to set aside time away from those easy-to-order-from webshops and look at what could make their garden centres different in the eyes of the customer. For example, a focus on locally produced products would be a great shop-within-a-shop or plant category and is an area that few garden centres exploit. Consider the way the food sector has started to be revived and improved by the emergence of a focus on the word ‘local’. From cheese to craft beer, to breads, to preserves and a  plethora of other consumables, the public has started to grasp the concept that local is better, and many restaurants now tout the concept that all their produce comes from within a certain radius of the business. This idea can’t be directly applied to a garden centre but the basics of the local product concept can be expanded upon to suit what you sell and can be positioned prominently to mark you out as different. The beauty of this is that most garden centres could do the same thing and still end up with a host of different and unique products.

Those are just a few ideas but there are many other approaches to changing how the customer perceives the products you stock, such as creative merchandising, contract growing, exclusive deals, etc. Balance is the key for garden centres, using existing suppliers while coaching others who have a good product but poor business or marketing sense, as well as always being on the lookout for something new.

Customers can easily tire when faced with the same stock time after time. Unlike other retail business such as supermarkets, they don’t expect 80% to be the same as a similar store and 20% different. They expect the opposite, whether the difference is real or perceived.

Remember that customers want to be inspired, wowed and enticed. So don’t be just any garden centre; be a unique one. ✽

Liam Kelly was general manager of one of the largest garden centres in the country, where he was instrumental in transforming it into a large lifestyle store. He established Retail Services & Solutions in 2007 and has since worked with many garden centres, nurseries and hardware stores in Ireland. He has experienced every aspect of garden centre work from maintenance to sales and purchasing to management. Contact: 086 822 1494, lksolutions@eircom.net.