Earn your Plant Points
Tick off these top tips to ensure you’re maximising plant sales:
1: Promote their mood-boosting qualities Plants are good for your health. According to NASA every 1,800 square foot house should contain 15 to 18 good-sized houseplants in order to keep a clean air space. Their research shows that top air fi ltering species include English Ivy, Spider plant, Peace Lily and potted gerbs. It’s scientifi cally proven that keeping plants will improve your customers’ health and wellbeing, so why not tell them so? This is an especially great sales point for anyone looking to buy for an offi ce. Plus, according to TNO Quality of Life, having plants in the workplace also helps to combat fatigue and stress and even increases productivity!
Image courtesy of Violets Florist, Daventry
“We are part of Interfl ora so we stock certain sundries to go with their product range. We always seem to have lots left over of one particular gift bag, so now we let the customers choose a plant (from a range all under £5) and either a box of luxury fudge or a box of chocolates to put into the bag, and then sell the whole lot for £10.
“It’s been a really popular package and is fast becoming one of our best sellers. It keeps the bags from piling up, keeps the plants moving fast, and people are now returning to purchase the fudge as an add on for other orders!”
In many ways plants are just as beautiful as
fl owers, and customers often get excited about the prospect of something they can continue to nurture and grow themselves. Once your plants are pimped to the max and on full show, April Hushman McBride of Little River Flowers gives the fi nal piece of advice for getting them out the door:
“Talk them up – remind customers that they’ll last, tell them how big and grand they’ll get, and tell them that having plants in their home will make them happier because they release oxygen!”
74 F&wb Autumn/Winter 2013
2: Fill your spaces wisely They’re extremely cost-eff ective space fi llers. Whether you sell them or not, plants add a huge amount of allure to your shop. They keep it looking full and lively but without the waste factor that fl owers have. Fill empty space with plants and as long as they’re looked after they’ll last too. Big specimen plants are great space fi llers – think Palms, Bays and Dracaenas, and they often sell as well. Little box plants make a great edge to display plinths and customers go mad for them too.
3: Appeal to the youth buyers Herbs really appeal to younger buyers, as do more unusual plant varieties. If the success of the Great British Bake Off and the sudden infl ux of trendy twenty-something hipsters joining the W.I is anything to go by, this quaintly domestic fad taking over the younger generation is here to stay. So turn it into a money spinner by pimping your rosemary and putting your mint right in front of their noses (literally), so they just can’t resist! Never underestimate the retro appeal of some of the old fashioned varieties… especially if given a modern twist.
4: Display them properly
It’s easy to ignore anything that doesn’t stand out. Don’t put your eff orts to waste by neglecting your plants at the last hurdle: in-store display. Just sticking a tray of plants out in their outer looks pants and is more green-grocer than bespoke fl orist. Every plant should be transferred from market tray/ plastic wrap to something more stylish. Love Lily sell a huge amount of plants, owner Emma explains one reason why: “We ALWAYS gift wrap every plant we stock, no matter what. This adds to the amount of impulse sales we make.”
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