The new sales initiative launched by the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) in association with the Garden Centre Association (GCA) provides consumer insights, essential e-learning, and practical guidance to help retailers enhance their commercial performance while improving customer success with plant sales and related categories such as containers, growing media, and garden care.
The Plant Retail Success initiative provides resources which help to improve commercial performance within their businesses and enhance customer success with the products they purchase. Designed to serve as flexible guidelines, the initiative offers valuable insights to operate in an evolving market, without being prescriptive. Members are encouraged to adapt the materials to fit their unique business needs. When plants sell successfully, the benefits are shared throughout the supply chain —from retailers and growers to manufacturers of related goods such as growing media, fertilisers, and containers.
“We’re pleased to have collaborated with the Garden Centre Association and our retail, grower, and manufacturer members to introduce the Plant Retail Success initiative. Plant Retail Success offers valuable insights, research, and training to support the growth of profitable plant retailing. By understanding, inspiring, and supporting the UK’s 30 million gardeners, we aim to provide members with the tools to keep customers engaged, drive repeat visits, and increase average transaction values,” said Fran Barnes, CEO of the HTA.
David Denny, HTA Director of Research & Insights, added; “We’re delighted to be able to work with our members to bring together the knowledge and experience they have to drive strong plant sales. Combined with the consumer research and retail data analysis the HTA can provide, this initiative shares practical examples and ideas for how we can all inspire and support gardeners’ success with plants. And when gardeners are inspired and succeed, the whole supply chain – growers, retailers, and manufacturers of related categories all reap the commercial returns in a challenging economic climate.”