Glee: Retail Lab preview The evidence is clear and shows that Grow
Your Own will be less of a ‘nice to have’ and will become deeply embedded into household routines as a growing number of people want their gardens to be functional and provide, rather than just aesthetically pleasing. The Retail Lab will showcase how garden
centres can take advantage of this trend, how they can position themselves as the voice of the expert and what events or learning opportunities they can create for younger and older gardeners alike to build those relationships with customers that will see them return to the centre season after season. This could be as simple as events around growing more challenging crops, or even how to start your own balcony grow bed.
Easy gardening Many would be gardeners would love to spruce up their outdoor space but don’t know where to start. With younger gardeners lacking the basic horticultural knowledge of older generations, gardening to them is perceived to be complicated, time consuming with too much maintenance and responsibility for their busy lives. According to the RHS, there is a whole section
of gardeners between the baby boomers and millennials that they refer to as the ‘lost generation’. There is little interest in gardening from people in their late 30s and 40s as they see it as ‘hard work’ so late in life. This has seen a rise in
pre-planted containers, rather than plug plants or seeds, amongst the younger generation and families, who both want a low maintenance and instant look without any hassle. This in turn has led to a 25% increase in sales of grown-to-maturity plants over the last three years, and today’s gardens are more likely to be full of decking, patios, potted plants and hardy evergreens. Those that lack gardening skills or have little or
no outdoor space are increasingly turning online, with 67% of British gardeners now get their gardening knowledge from the internet and social media. With the surge in bloggers and
to place products or feed expert advice into these planners as a way of becoming a trusted advisor to these millennial gardeners. Easy Gardening is one of the easiest trends for
garden centres to interpret in store and this will be demonstrated in the Retail Lab this year, to show there is no right or wrong way to garden and it’s ok for amateur gardeners to make mistakes - with some great take-home ideas to implement straight away in plant areas. From smart product placement that leads to
customers being able to benefit immediately from plants in bloom, your online presence and
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
vloggers posting their gardening triumphs or fails online, newer gardeners are using these knowledge bases to learn as they go and take inspiration from. We expect to see a growth in the use of
gardening apps and smart planners that will act as guides for millennial gardeners who are far more comfortable with technology as an everyday planning tool. Garden retailers could harness this opportunity by collaborating with the developers
social media channels, to styling choices and pre- planted containers made by your category managers working together to smartly place products together, this is a theme that can be embraced by all retailers to inspire customers, as well as encourage sales and return footfall. With these, and the other key trends in the
garden retail market being showcased, the Retail Lab @ Glee can help retailers to find inspiration and ideas to grow their own businesses.
The Retail Lab @ Glee will focus on five key themes under the umbrella of ‘Happy Gardening’ GCU September 2018
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