April 2020 - 44

POHMER ON
DOES THE IN-STORE
EXPERIENCE MATTER?
Garden centers should consider whether it's time to move beyond
fulfillment and onto experience.
By Stan Pohmer
I
recently celebrated my birthday (I defer on saying
how old, but suffice it to say that if they actually had
a lit candle for each year on the cake, our local fire
department would have been called to extinguish the
blaze!) with my family and somehow the conversation
came around to shopping.
I think it all started when my wife said that she had just
run to the local Target store to pick up some hors d'oeuvres
for the party and my Gen X daughter-in-law seemed a little
surprised by that, as she said she doesn't physically go
to the store much anymore. She orders almost all of her
grocery essentials (and much of everything else) online and
has it delivered or ready for pick up (BOPIS).
She suggested that with two young kids and a full-time
career, she can order almost everything the family needs
online at her convenience while she's sitting at the kids'
soccer practices, watching TV at home or during her lunch
hour, and then have it delivered or ready for pickup at a time
convenient for her. The whole process is about saving her
time and making it most convenient for her life and lifestyle.
44 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | APRIL 2020
Keeping up with the Retailers
This response begged for my next question: How,
without physically going into the mass marketer or
supermarket, could she keep up to date about new items,
flavors or impulse purchase opportunities the retailers
introduced that might interest her? I guess I shouldn't
have been shocked by her response that she kept up to
speed on new stuff through emails she received from
the retailers, Pinterest, and her social media contacts on
Facebook and Instagram.
And occasionally, when her kids want to see a selection of
toys to select from, for example, she'll physically head to the
store with them and, while there, she'll do a run of the store
to see what's new (so she can order it online!). So that's
essentially the ordering and fulfillment process for life's
essentials as she sees it. And I'd venture an educated guess
that there are many other consumers out there with these
same attitudes and outlook.
Specialty Stores Offer Specialty Experiences
That said, my son and my daughter-in-law are avid family
campers, and my son is into 50- and 100-mile ultimate
trail running (he's long past mere marathons). Do they
ever order any of the equipment and supplies needed for
camping or the specialty running shoes and water camel
packs or energy foods required for extended trail running

April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2020

April 2020 - 1
April 2020 - 2
April 2020 - 3
April 2020 - 4
April 2020 - 5
April 2020 - 6
April 2020 - 7
April 2020 - 8
April 2020 - 9
April 2020 - 10
April 2020 - 11
April 2020 - 12
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/thriveguide-2022
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