November/December 2022 - 54

FRESH PERSPECTIVES
ENGAGING
Plant Purchasers
Both online and in-person
communications can help your
garden center connect with new
and existing customers.
By Alicia L. Rihn
P
lant customers are changing. Years ago, when I first
started my graduate work, it was immediately after
the Great Recession, and horticulture customers
indicated that plants were luxury goods. Given the
economic environment, this is not surprising.
Customers, however, are now
viewing plants as experience goods
where value is obtained through
interacting and engagement.
Customers have also changed and
are now valuing experiences over
possessions. Together, these trends
demonstrate the added value plants
innately provide customers and help
define part of the bump in sales
observed during the pandemic.
Given that plants engage consumers
and people value experiences, in
this article I am going to focus on
different means of engaging your
customers through online and inperson
channels.
Online Platforms: During the pandemic, 16 to 18
million new people started gardening as a means of
enriching their daily lives through interacting with plants
and beautifying their environment.
Many of the new gardeners sought gardening
information online. Figure 1 shows U.S. customers' Google
searches for gardening information from March 2017 to
January 2022, with a substantial bump in 2020 and a
smaller bump in 2021.
New (and existing) customers are
New (and
existing)
customers
are relying on
online content
more than
ever before.
relying on online content more than
ever before, meaning information
needs to be relevant, up to date
and available when customers start
seeking it (i.e., February).
Beyond Google, people are still
seeking information on social media
platforms, and electronic word of
mouth (eWOM) is one of the most
efficient means of reaching core
customer groups and promoting a
firm and the products offered. Beyond
the promotional aspect of eWOM,
it is also a way to engage customers
through encouraging sharing of
visually attractive plant displays, photos and videos.
In-person or Online Plant Purchases: Online purchasing
of plants increased during the pandemic. Expenditures on
plants and landscape items increased by 3.4 to 4.6% from
January to July 2020, relative to the same time period in
54 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022

November/December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2022

November/December 2022 - 1
November/December 2022 - 2
November/December 2022 - 3
November/December 2022 - 4
November/December 2022 - 5
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/LGR/thriveguide-2021
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