Opportunity to increase price of plants sold in garden centres

Added on 16 May 2022

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Opportunity to increase price of plants sold in garden centres

A two-year study on consumers' purchasing behaviours and in-store and online influences unveiled that price is often an afterthought for those buying plants in garden centres. The Floral Marketing Fund (FMF) sponsored study was conducted between 2020 and 2021 on consumers in the United States and Canada.

Rachel Anderson reports on the research findings that were discussed during a webinar held on January 27 (2022), entitled 'Path to Purchasing for Garden Center Consumers In-Store and Online', the discussion was led by Dr Amy Bowen, director of consumer insights at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Canada - which carried out the study in collaboration with the country's University of Guelph.

Bowen revealed that 34 per cent of those interviewed did not notice the price of the plants they were buying. Another 34 per cent saw the price but chose not to make any price comparisons with any other plants in the store.

Pot size matters

However, the study found that "container size matters", - meaning that garden centre shoppers are more price-sensitive to specific pot sizes than others. Bowen advised: "Stock more inventory in pot sizes that consumers are less price-sensitive to - this could lead to a larger profit margin."