Plantista

Garden centers, like many other industries, are finding their new balance after the pandemic era boom. >The benefit of the pandemic? Trial. With more people spending time at home, between 15-18 million people became first-time gardeners. >The challenge following the pandemic? Retention. With limited knowledge and experience in care, ~⅓ of the dollars people spent on plants went down the drain (source: Plantista survey). This knocks confidence and willingness to invest more money into plants. A rebound to former work, shopping and travel schedules also means people are once again crunched for time - setting the bar high for ease & convenience when it comes choosing, purchasing, and caring for plants. Even with these challenges, nearly half of people report wanting to invest more money into plants this year than last. While this stat isn’t bad, I think it could be much greater with the right tools. IMO, there are 3 ways independent garden centers can best capture (and grow) share of wallet with new gardeners. 1. Sell a vision. Raised on social media, younger generations make purchase decisions by coming across inspiration and executing on it - whether it’s a full outfit an Instagram creator is wearing (and has conveniently linked) or a Pinterest post of a DIY backyard oasis. Being the source of this inspiration - whether through in-store displays, social media posts, or AI-generated custom design - turns shopping into a fun experience, adds value, and increases AOVs. It also places garden centers squarely into the role of “creator” which has been found to be 3.5x more influential than advertiser. 2. Set them up for success. Plant care can be overwhelming for one plant, let alone 15+. While 89% of people today turn to Google as their main source of plant care advice, this is time-consuming and often incorrect as advice does not take into account the searcher’s location. Providing plant care cards to customers can help arm new plant owners with the information they need to raise a healthy plant. Plant care text messages - delivered just in time and tied to individual purchases - are even better as they build customer value & loyalty, while also providing garden centers the ability to cross-sell care products over time (e.g., specific fertilizer, supplies to winterize). 3. Track & take [location-appropriate] trends to the bank. Creating one-stop solutions for popular trends are how big-box stores like Home Depot & Wal-Mart are driving business and where IGCs often fall short. Helping customers design bee/butterfly/bird gardens (+10% YoY), begin foodscaping (+50% YoY), or earn tax credits on qualified drought tolerant plants are easy ways to create value for customers. I would love to hear others’ thoughts on this topic.  If you are a wanna-be or novice gardener, what would make you want to spend more on plants? If you own or operate a garden center, what have you tried that’s worked? Failed? What tools do you wish you had?

[Unsolicited post of the day] Very few people know this but my first job was working with plants. 🌱 At age 8 I split my mom’s hostas and made $500 in a weekend pedaling them from my friend’s driveway (she had prime real estate in town, I was in the country). 🌱Soon after, my mom would cart me to the garden center to work with her on summer days when I had no babysitter. I’d help plant and place plant tags for a prized sum (to me) of $5/day. 🌱In seventh grade, my parents decided to start a garden center of their own. I insisted on being in every business meeting and was the front lady selling ears of corn on the corner for pre-open “advertising”. My career life has taken many different turns since then - from rap albums with General Mills, to strategy consulting with McKinsey - but the business of plants and the legacies of independent garden centers has always continued to draw me back in. It is this pull and ultimate opportunity that led me to start Plantista - a garden center SAAS company that ties in with garden center POS systems to grow revenue via personalized plant care alerts and AI design. We’re still very much in the learning and building phase so expect to hear more [unsolicited] musings, questions, and learnings from me on plants and would appreciate your support, comments and feedback.  And finally, if you have knowledge in garden center marketing, technology or ownership/operation - or know someone who does - please reach out. I'd love to connect.