Best Online Gardening Stores To Learn From
Psychology dictates that consumers have an innate drive to purchase products that enhance comfort, a desire that heightens during difficult times. And as proven by the
growing trend of pandemic gardeners
, a gardening store can take advantage of this psychological insight to boost sales and brand recognition. But part of that growth is equally determined by your online reach. Because, like it or not, online shoppers are increasing each day.
The average shopper in the U.S. spends about $1,804,
and the U.K. spends $1,629. Considering that the number of online shoppers is expected to increase to 91% in 2023 in America alone, taking your garden store online is a smart move. And one tactic to use to build a successful online garden supply store is to learn from the best. So, here is a list of the best online gardening stores and nuggets of wisdom to take from each one:
Sure, Plow & Hearth has been in the gardening supply business for a couple of years now. Still, they continue to rank highly among competitors because of their strategy: diversification and sustainability.
Plow& Hearth is well known to have diversified its services from being a small country store to one that has 26 physical stores across the U.S. The company sells a diverse range of products, which include home and garden ware, pest control supplies, stoves, and bedding.
In gardening, Plow & Hearth sells a large stock of garden equipment that you can easily find on their website based on categories like garden furniture and garden tools. Customers love Plow & Hearth because, save from offering a very user-friendly website interphase, they can post the image of any item purchased with honest reviews.
Additionally, the shipping options are diverse, whether you want doorstep delivery to your home or office or if you want curbside pick-up from a store near you. The strong environmentally conscious program Plow & Hearth follows is also a bonus for consumers.
This online store is perfect to learn from if you want to specialize in offering greenhouse gardening products or services. Having been in business for 22 years, the company now has an online store that provides its customers access to greenhouses.
For instance, if you want to start an indoor plant supply store online, the company has access to a seed starter greenhouse you can emulate. Greenhouse Megastore also provides crucial product knowledge on what you might need to start and open an online greenhouse store.
The store is perfect because it is excellently curated to give customers anything they need. Also, the products offered by Greenhouse Megastore are very affordable. As part of their selling strategy, they offer a 2% price reduction guarantee if a customer finds the product selling at a lower price in another store.
Their guarantee policy also extends to all products purchased for one year unconditionally. And if this doesn't keep customers returning to Greenhouse Megastore, their aftercare service seals the deal.
Go straight to class with the self-proclaimed "Gangster Gardener"Ron Finley's Masterclass, where he teaches you how to grow your garden regardless of space. Ron is especially good at teaching gardeners how to grow their food no matter how small their yard space is.
In this class, you will learn how to grow everything, be it vegetables or succulent plants. You will also learn how to use the spaces around you to plant and care for your garden. The knowledge can then help you provide value to your online clientele.
For instance, Ron advises turning the soil with poor nutrients into fertile ground for planting. You can create content based on this advice and teach your clientele
how to improve the quality of their plant soil.
The information you learn from this Masterclass is also diverse. You will have the skills to properly start your garden from the seedling stage to composting. And since the subscription is on Masterclass, you automatically get access to other experts on the platform that offer the best online garden nursery advice.
Selling and distributing seeds might be one of the most accessible online garden supply stores. If this is what you are considering, Park Seed is the company to learn from. For over 150 years, the company has sold seeds through mail orders.
Park Seed started selling seeds to the local community through advertising and referrals among family, neighbors, and friends. Eventually, the company began creating and publishing catalogues to sell the seeds.
This resulted in a successful mail ordering service that still operates successfully to date. The company has also grown and diversified its product portfolio to include trees, live plants, and garden accessories.
Park Seed's online presence is vast, diverse, and appealing. Apart from selling products on the website, the company also has a blog that offers gardeners' advice, ideas, and gardening tips. This means customers can rely on Park Seed to fulfill their needs from one website.
And if a customer wants hands-on advice from the company, they can easily access an online chat function where an advisor eliminates any customer pain points.
As a start-up online garden supply store, Lowes can offer you the insights needed to compete with giant companies like Home Depot. The company's strategy was to sell a comprehensive selection of gardening supplies to entice gardeners that would lack options at other established gardening stores.
Lowes's online gardening products range from plants, flowers, seeds, gardening equipment, gardening furniture, and other accessories. Therefore, anything you need for your garden is readily available at Lowes, including decoration accessories like bulbs.
Lowes is also huge on providing excellent customer satisfaction. For example, each item in the store has a
comprehensive product description
that advises the customer on using the item correctly for their garden.
This assistance also ensures the customer purchases the right products for their garden from the onset. Also, Lowes offers free shipping on almost all their online products. This dedication to customer satisfaction is sure to build customer loyalty.
The Bottom Line
There are numerous online garden supply stores today, each offering different products, services, and expertise. Still, only a few have surpassed the many to become the best online stores selling gardening products and services.
Still, one thing remains certain: the focus on these stores is customer satisfaction. Each online store mentioned above has developed a strategy centered on ensuring every shopper leaves happy and satisfied.
Since customer satisfaction is an excellent marketing incentive for any business, the stores continue to grow and immerse profits. Offering a diverse product range is also a common factor among these companies.
Therefore, if you are to take anything home today, remember that customer satisfaction is key to your online store's success. But don't forget that having
a cloud POS solution that helps market your products
is equally important.
Here at Erply, we worry about the POS solution, so you don't have to.
Try our free demo
to see how we can help your online gardening store grow.