Tools Gardening gets easy
A positive start to the year sees the tools sector ready to up the momentum for the rest of the year, with product innovation and retailer/supplier relationships taking precedence in the industry.
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armer weather and bank holiday weekends oſten see Brits spending more time getting
round to jobs in their homes, whether it be refreshing the living room with a lick of fresh paint, mowing the lawn, or even using tools to build a bookcase or put up a shelving unit – whatever the task, it seems no secret that we’re a nation partial to a spot of gardening in the sunshine. In the tools sector, industry figures have said having no Beast from the East to tackle has undoubtedly been positive for business. Fiskars sales director, Mark Follett says the company are seeing significant growth on 2018: “We’ve opened up a new direct sales channel for our retail partners who have had a really positive impact. The new route offers retailers better value, a more personalised experience from one of our field sales professionals and direct access to Fiskars’ knowledge and support with merchandising.” Mark also says product innovation is key in the sector, and says “our growth can be attributed to the launch of new collections and range extensions which help us to stand out.” Fiskars has also launched a campaign that promotes active gardening to reduce stress and increase happiness, and Mark says this has helped promote gardening tools: “From a gardening perspective we are seeing a rise in participation as a leisure pursuit, especially among millennials as they become homeowners and look to improve their outdoor spaces, even small ones. The desire to
spend more time outdoors is also a common multigenerational theme and something we are embracing with our 0% Stress 100% Happiness campaign which promotes gardening as an escape from busy lives.” And the campaign has been so successful, the company even plans to do another one for autumn, and believes this will help retailers boost their sales over the clean-up period. “This autumn will see the launch of our ‘0%
Leaves, 100% Happiness’ campaign, providing a seamless follow on to the already successful promotion in spring,” says Mark. “Customers purchasing any Fiskars product at a participating retailer between 1 September and 31 October 2019, will be entered into a competition to win a garden makeover worth up to £3,000, or a Fiskars mini garden toolkit. Coinciding with the time of year when thoughts turn to preparing the garden for winter, ‘0% Leaves, 100% Happiness’ is set to provide enhanced sales opportunities for retailers.”
And although there is a focus in getting people outside in their gardens, sales director of Burgon & Ball, Ruth Posey, says that once they get there, innovation in the industry needs to help customers get the job done quickly and easily. Previewed at GLEE last autumn, this is the first season in the UK for the Corona range of tools from the USA. For decades, Corona has been a by-word for quality in North America, and this year Burgon & Ball are to bring this range of tools to the UK. “Gardeners are always looking for ways to make gardening easier, and finding new ways to do
this is a key driver in the industry,” she says. “At Burgon & Ball we’re known for our trend-driven innovation, and our new products include a new RHS-endorsed tool collection created to resolve the unique gardening challenges presented by container gardening, a universal and growing trend. We also have two new weeding tools to minimise the time and energy spent on this rather tedious task, which have been proving popular.”
Value for money
Mark Follett from Fiskars says even in the garden industry “customers want value for money, but they also want quality and reliability. They need to know that tools are up to the task and reduce stress and strain on the body.” He continues: “Consumer insight data tells us that around 60% of shoppers list their biggest consideration factors as price and quality, the very definition of value! Other important considerations are functionality, aesthetics and availability. All of these are contributing factors in determining the value proposition.” However, Burgon & Ball sales director Ruth Posey believes that price is only one element of the marketing mix, and it doesn’t always play a primary role. With environmental issues being the forefront of a lot of changing in customer behaviour when it comes to shopping, and the increase of conscious consumerism continues to build in momentum, Ruth says “there will always be customers who want to ‘buy once, buy well’, and as concern over sustainability grows, we are increasingly finding that more shoppers move into this category.”
Looking ahead to the future of the market, Mark from Fiskars says: “The market is in a continual state of flux and the way in which we shop is evolving. The garden centre sector has had a huge shake up with the division and sell off of the Wyevale group and while as an industry we are slow adopters, there is a modest rise in online sales. It is the industry’s job now to keep pace with the ever-changing face of retail and for suppliers and retailers to work together to excite shoppers and drive footfall in to stores.” And with Burgon & Ball seeing an “exceptionally busy spring” Ruth doesn’t see that slowing down any time soon: “With a wide range of innovative new products, including our Chelsea Garden Product of the Year finalist RHS-endorsed container weeder, and the launch of the new Corona tools, we are hoping to continue the year’s positive start.”
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www.gardencentreupdate.com GCU June 2019
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