Glee: Retail Lab preview Opportunity and inspiration
In its second year, the Retail Lab @ Glee will be exploring some key industry themes and providing advice on how retailers can make the most of them
he Retail Lab @ Glee was introduced in 2017, to showcase the latest trends within the garden industry, giving retailers and suppliers inspiration and take-home ideas for their own business. The Retail Lab @ Glee will once again be created in partnership with a panel of industry experts, led by creative director Romeo Sommers of ByRomeo, with Paula Parker of PP8 Marketing heading up the day-to-day management of this pivotal show feature. This year, the theme ‘Happy Gardening’ will focus on consumer purchasing patterns and delve into the many ways that gardening can enhance our lives. The innovative and interactive show feature will be split into five key areas of trends and insightful knowledge. The show organisers have taken a closer look at this theme and the opportunities it offers retailers who want to tap into gardening’s feel good factor.
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Happy Gardening aims to show that, exactly as it says, gardening makes people happy. Whether it is the memories people create in them, the happiness experienced getting your hands dirty, holding a BBQ or summer party, or simply reflecting under a tree or sipping a cup of coffee, gardens are a place we can all enjoy. The Retail Lab will give an educational and interactive showcase about how outdoor spaces make us feel, as well as understanding how garden centres can use their retail areas to connect with their customers in a positive way that will really engage them.
Research and studies all point to gardens having a significant impact on the happiness, health and wellbeing of those who spend time embracing nature, or just simply being outdoors enjoying all it has to offer. Five key themes will sit under the Happy Gardening umbrella and will each have their own dedicated area in the Retail Lab to bring them to life: • Easy Gardening – Talking to reluctant gardeners and those people who are new to gardening and have a thirst to learn. Debunking the myth that gardening is complicated and arduous work and can it fact be simple to do and aesthetically pleasing. • Feel Good – Gardening has significant positive effects on mental health and over all wellbeing. This area will show visitors how garden centres can connect with this theme, practically, in store. • Grow your own – A trend that has increased with popularity amongst gardeners of all types and ages, in particular urban gardeners and
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millennials who now use their outdoor spaces to grow vegetables and herbs from plot to plate. • Pets – With 50% of the UK population owning a pet and the ongoing humanisation of pets, garden centres who invest in a pet concession and make their centres pet friendly have one more way of ensuring repeat footfall and larger spends in their centres. • Play – How gardening engages with children, how they can really have fun whilst learning and being active and how garden centres can engage in this market.
helps Grow Your Own appeal to urban life even further. People are starting with herbs in plant pots progressing to salad leaves, tomatoes, chillies and beyond as their confidence grows. Once the passion has kicked in, vegetable
patches in the garden, allotments and community gardens come into the fore. Research carried out by the University of Sheffield has found that that the most popular and plentiful crops being grown in the UK are potatoes, courgettes, apples and tomatoes, all very easy to grow and transferrable from ‘plot to plate’.
Research and studies all point to gardens having a significant impact on happiness, health and wellbeing
Grow Your Own
One of the key themes of the Retail Lab, ‘Grow Your Own’ shows no sign of abating. Grow Your Own is not a new trend, but it has
seen a dramatic growth over the years and is now extremely popular with millennial and urban gardeners. The rise is due to young gardeners recognising the health-driven benefits such as the plant-based diet and the rise in veganism, whilst for other newcomers to the grow your own phenomenon it is recognised as a cheap way to access healthy food, especially during the ongoing economic squeeze. A recent study showed that 43% of gardeners under 40 grow their own vegetables compared to 32% of over 60s. The Wyevale Garden Centres 2018 Garden Trends Report also revealed that 90,000 Britons were on the waiting list for allotments. The pursuit to become more
eco-conscious and consume organic food that is free from chemicals and pesticides, whilst attempting to shrink their food miles, and reduce their carbon footprint, is driving gardeners to grow their own produce in ever increasing quantities. An appealing factor of growing
your own is that you don’t need a large space to do so. Vegetables or herbs can quite easily be grown in a window box, balcony container or kitchen windowsill which
The rise of celebrity gardeners on social media, blogs and vlogs such as James Wong and Mr Plant Geek has also seen more exotic varieties of fruit and vegetables come to market. Coupled with the ever-increasing number of cooking programmes, gastro pubs and restaurants, as well as the ability to travel around the globe, Grow Your Own gardeners are becoming more adventurous, looking to grow something increasingly-exotic. With younger gardeners more ethically
aware and the Grow Your Own trend here to stay, garden centres have the ideal platform and opportunity to communicate with these newer customers on what to grow each season and to ensure they succeed and grow in confidence.
After a successful introduction last year, the Retail Lab is set to offer retailers further information and ideas for showcasing key trends in-store
GCU September 2018
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