It was a fantastic time to own a garden centre over the last few years, with everyone spending so much more time at home.

The supply of plants was a bigger issue than selling was.  A lot of the fundamental retail principles were forgotten during that time, with retailers too busy selling the plants to worry about them. But we are in a new time. Wages have increased, the cost of goods has increased, and we’ve seen the average customer numbers decrease by around 9% over the last 12 months. So, with a lot of businesses struggling just to keep their doors open, what can we do to increase sales? How do we sell more plants? 
 
With another minimum wage increase again back in July, there are only two options to keep wages within the KPI range we’re looking for. You can either reduce the number of staff you have without decreasing your sales, or you can increase your sales, without increasing your staffing costs. Today we’re going to be giving three keys on how to increase your sales without increasing your wages. 

When a customer comes into your store, on average, how many of your products do you think they see? Have they been taken on a journey where they can see as much of the offer as possible. If your customers cannot see the product, they are not likely to buy it?

In leading your customer on the desired journey, it’s important to identify the hotspots. Hotspots are locations along the journey where you can display impulse and highly desirable products that will increase your average sales.

Are your customers’ hands full? When someone goes to the supermarket to do a food shop, they tend to grab a trolley before their shopping journey. From our experience this is different in a garden centre, having trolleys and baskets in easy to find locations throughout the shopping journey is a great way to increase your sales. If customers have trolleys or baskets, they are likely to buy more products.

This is a topic we’re going to explore in more depth at another time, but signage sells products. Having effective and clear signage that shares the reasons why customers should purchase the plant or product is one of the most effective ways to increase the sales. When working on your signage there is an important question to ask yourself, what is the hero? Is this product great value and the price needs to be screamed? Is this a product that is new to the market? Or is this a product that has a great end use? Does this product attract birds and bees to your garden, or maybe it provides great shade. What is the reason the customer should be buying this product?

The final key to increasing your sales is one that can be seen as a little awkward when not approached from the right perspective. Add-on sales. Garden centres aren’t like a take away shop where you simply ask “would you like to supersize that?”. The purpose of add-on sales is to achieve the desired sales growth that the business has identified as part of their Business Plan. An increase of 5 cents on every $1 of sales is a realistic target to achieve to help your business to continue to grow.

So how do you get your team to do an add-on sale? Get your team to think about a product that they really believe in, a product that they have used and seen great success in their own garden. When a staff member has a product that they believe in, they can recommend the product during the sales process. It’s as simple as that. Another way to get your team to increase add on sales is thinking about does the customer has the products to complete the project? If a customer is buying a big pot, a big plant, get the team to think about what else the customer may need. Do they have potting mix? Do they have a plant tonic to reduce shock? This is more than add on sales, you are also providing your customer with a check list to avoid embarrassment or another shopping trip.

There you have it, three keys to sell more to your customers without increasing your wage costs. In future posts we are going to explore these topics in greater detail as well as exploring ways to increase the number of customers coming through your door.

As always, if you would like to see how we can work with you to see your business grow, feel free to contact the team at Gro Australia.