Shopping online makes everything convenient, even when it comes to buying plants. No brands have been spared by the drastic impacts that coronavirus has had on business. Traditional garden centers and nurseries are having to evolve in order to meet customer expectations. With current online shopping capabilities and being able to have anything shipped to our homes or even simply handed off with curbside pickup, there is often no reason to leave the house. But prior to this pandemic’s madness, the best way to shop from a garden center was spending a pleasant Saturday or Sunday walking slowly through the store looking at a wide range of plants, pots, herbs, and house plants.
Over the last decade, these traditional small garden centers and nurseries have had a tough time competing with big box stores like Home Depot, and most of all, the increasing prevalence of online plant vendors. It would seem that these things working together may create the demise of mom and pop garden shops. This brings up the importance of online shopping for the gardening industry. It is vital for garden centers and nurseries of all sizes to adjust their e-commerce offering by allowing for online orders and curbside pickup.
Accenture released a report in June stating that e-commerce has grown dramatically during the pandemic even for those customers who did not shop online prior. While no longer feeling safe when shopping in-store, these shoppers plan to increase e-commerce purchases by 160% during the pandemic. Majority of those surveyed said they’ll continue omnichannel shopping when the pandemic is over. 51% believe they will still shop with mobile applications, 42% plan to shop online for curbside pickup, and 41% will engage live chatbots once coronavirus is gone. The Accenture report is based on a survey of 7,872 consumers in 18 markets around the globe conducted May 5–11, 2020.
E-commerce has expanded rapidly since coronavirus has forced the shutdown of most stores throughout 2020. In the United States alone, online sales grew by 76% in June which came out to $73.2 billion. It is important for garden centers to evolve and embrace these shopping habits through adding their products and a checkout capability to their website. Times are changing and only those who keep up to date with technology will survive.
If your company would like to discuss how you can excel during this evolving business climate and have a strong e-commerce and online presence, our team at Oster and Associates is ready to help.
Examples of garden centers and nurseries that you can shop online or request online for delivery or curbside pickup.
Shop Online
https://www.rogersgardens.com/
https://www.monrovia.com/how-to-order-online/
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Plants-Garden-Flowers
Request Online for Delivery or Curbside pickup
