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Inspire Her to Spend
| Chris Beytes
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>> Published Date: 6/15/2010
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 I was talking to a colleague recently, and he relayed a story from a retailer who, like many of you, had had a bad May. Apparently, foot traffic in his store was up, but the average sale was down—a common tale among retailers both inside and outside our industry.
Now, the typical human reaction to this trend would be to blame the consumer for our woes—assume that she’s on a budget, or is cash-strapped, or has had a decrease in household income, or some such scenario.
But could the truth be that your store simply didn’t offer much that interested her?
Admittedly, May retail sales were down a small percentage compared with March and April, according to the National Retail Federation. But they were up 2.7% over May 2009. And some product categories showed gains in May, namely home furnishings, electronics and appliances, sporting goods, and products at hobby, book and music stores.
In other words, it’s not that consumers didn’t have money to spend. They just weren’t spending as much as we’d like on our stuff.
But here’s an incredibly important point: Many retailers I’ve spoken with say foot traffic has been UP. That means consumers ARE coming into our garden centers. They’re thinking about our products. They WANT the experience of a garden center … otherwise, they wouldn’t waste time pulling into our parking lots. That’s a big plus … and it may help answer the big question of whether or not we’re relevant to today’s consumers.
To me, the fact that they’re coming to our stores and spending time in them—basically giving us every chance in the world to sell them something—and yet are leaving with less in their trunks than in previous seasons, is an indictment against the job we’re doing of enticing them, wowing them, “seducing them,” as my retailer friend Chuck Heidgen likes to say. If they’re walking out with less stuff, then I would suggest that we aren’t doing enough to inspire impulse purchases—or maybe to “inspire” in general.
Case in support of that thesis: A reader of our Acres Online e-newsletter, Janet Schmock of The Green Spot in Manchester, Iowa, wrote in recently to tell me that her sales for May 2010 were DOUBLE those of 2009, in spite of lousy spring weather. The close of her short email offered a glimpse at her secret to success. Wrote Janet: “Brightly colored displays changed every week help keep people coming back to see what we do next.”
As you might assume, I’m a frequent repeat visitor to lots of garden centers, as well as other kinds of retail outlets. And I can’t think of any that change their displays in a way that has me wondering what they’ll come up with next. Fresh product, sure. But it’s put on the table with the old product, or at least in the same old spot. I never see bold “new” or “fresh” or “check this out!” signs front-and-center.
Garden retailers tend toward consistency. The same plants in the same place not only week to week, but even year to year. Such consistency breeds boredom and a feeling of “there’s nothing new here” among customers.
To exacerbate that, our uncertain and worrisome economy resulted in a tendency to play it safe and conservative rather than big, bold and crazy.
The end result of a boring, conservative retail environment? Bored customers who are conservative with their pocketbooks.
Maybe that’s one reason, besides the weather, that some retailers saw sales shrink. Certainly, if other retailers had strong sales in spite of the weather, they must be doing something different.
Mind you, I am NOT advising you to throw caution to the wind with your ordering. Shrink is expensive. What I am suggesting is that you try adding some excitement, pizzazz and fun to the shopping experience. Bright colors, upbeat music, creative displays (changed frequently), enthusiastic employees, flags and banners, hot dogs for lunch, signage that calls customers to action: “Buy this fabulous new petunia before they’re gone!”—all might help pry that extra $5 or $10 from each customer’s pocket.
Remember: She’s shown up. She’s got the money. Now all she needs is some encouragement.
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