the big interview


“One of the main trends we’ve seen is shrinking garden size,” she says. “The stats say the average size of garden is reducing to only 14sq m. More people only have balconies or patios, so that means we have to change as a business to make sure we’re relevant to people with much smaller gardening spaces. “With the growth of urban gardening, we are seeing people wanting a space to grow, but it is moving away from a traditional garden. It’s a patio or a rooftop, or a small piece of shared land. It’s important that we really tap into this trend and have an offer of products that are more convenient, such as having smaller pack sizes, and really merchandise our products to these customers in a way that appeals to these people.” Appealing to wider consumer bases is essential for the future of the industry. “Merchandising and marketing of core traditional garden care products doesn’t appeal to this new generation,” says Sheila. “We have to show them that even if they have a small gardening space, we can create interest for them and help them garden.


“The naturals trend is also growing quickly in the market. A third of gardeners are now looking to purchase more natural garden products. In light of that trend, we’ve launched our Origins range. It’s a considered range, because it’s aimed at younger gardeners who aren’t necessarily in the category right now. We don’t want to bombard them with every gardening product under the sun – just the main products you need. Something to grow beautiful plants, something to grow fruit and veg, something to kill a weed – it’s taking seven or eight top products and packaging them up with a natural formulation and no chemicals and marketing them in a way that is very new and different and refreshing, and is actually quite disruptive to the garden care category. It needs to be like that to appeal to these people. “We’ve done a lot of research. We’re creating a one stop shop where the Origins portfolio is in one display unit and we’ve been saying to our customers, you don’t need to merchandise these in the ferts and chems area, because the target consumer of this probably isn’t shopping in that category. You have to create a different proposition.”


We are seeing


people wanting a space to grow, but it is moving away from a traditional garden


‘People love gardening in this country’ In an economy in which many consumers are seeing pressures on their disposable income, the garden retail market has performed admirably. “Business has been good,” says Sheila. “It’s shown growth of just under 2%. That’s been driven by growing media, as well as planters, tying into the trend for grow your own. That’s


GCU November/December 2017


Marketing to a millennial consumer requires a different approach to traditional garden centre customers, with an emphasis on demystifying and advice on how to utilise small garden spaces


been something that has been in the market place for many years, but we’ve seen younger consumers getting into it.


“At the beginning of the season it felt like it was going to be a bumper year, because we had such a good start. The early spring weather was very warm, and with Easter in April rather than March, that always helps bring some momentum to the early part of the season. However the season did tail off, unfortunately. But growth of just under 2% is still very good in this economy.”


Part of that is down to the fact that the market is not one that has historically been adversely affected by challenging economic conditions. Sheila comments: “Gardening is a hobby. In this sort of climate, people tend to focus more on their gardens and their homes, so when times are tough our category fares pretty well. They’re not high ticket items, and people still like to garden even when the economic outlook isn’t as positive as it could be. “I wouldn’t quite say our products are recession proof, but people love gardening in this country and people are willing to continue to spend.”


While the existing customer base being happy to keep spending on their garden is a major positive, attracting new people into the market remains a test for the industry. “The big challenge for retailers is how they recruit new consumers,” Sheila says. “Some garden centres have got really good at it, where you go in the store and you’re really inspired by what you see. It’s really important we help consumers learn how to use our products, why to use them, and merchandise them in more of a project-based way - if someone wants to grow their own, for example, put a grow bag, some Tomorite, all the things you need to have together in one purchase.


“40% of gardeners feel they lack basic horticultural knowledge, so we all need to demystify, by inspiring and educating both online and in-store. There are a lot of potential


customers out there, so it’s a big opportunity too. It’s a good challenge to have.” Presenting products in new ways is one way to grow engagement, Sheila believes. “At Glee this year, we had the idea of urban gardening throughout our stand,” she explains. “We encapsulated that in a display area, with graphics and products that are relevant to a potential customer, who is in a flat or has a small garden space. We want to help our customers by trying to repeat that in-store, and make it more of a lifestyle proposition. “Our Glee stand was designed to demonstrate great merchandising and a lot of feedback we had from our customers was that they were inspired and got clever ideas from how we displayed at Glee and are going to put those ideas in their stores. They liked the fact we’d thought about that, considering what is really inspiring and a great way to merchandise in store.”


‘We’re really positive about next season’ Given the purchase by Exponent and interesting trends in the market, Sheila is understandably optimistic when looking to the future. “You can never predict how the season is going to go,” she says. “But whether the season is early or late, we will react accordingly and ensure we are ready for what our customers need. “From our point of view at Scotts, we’re really positive about next season, because we’ve got huge campaigns for Miracle-Gro and Roundup – massive investment in our advertising. We’re also really excited about our new products, seeing the store activations and seeing the products perform. We’re ready, and we’re excited about what we’re bringing to the market next season.


“It is very exciting for us. We can’t wait for the season to kick off. We’ve had lots of really positive conversations already with the new owners, and we’re making sure our brands and our new products get the best support in order to be successful. We can’t wait.”


www.gardencentreupdate.com | 5


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