As the gardening season recedes, and with it the peak sales period for most garden centres, it’s a good time to have a look at what has gone well and what could have been better in sales performance this year.
Overall, of course the season has been quite fantastic, as the continuous run of fine dry weather brought the customers out and they spent very well. Our Garden Centre Association Barometer of Trade figures show that, as well as gardening sales doing well, most categories were well up when compared to the same period in 2024.
In fact, year-to-date sales are up overall by 11.75%. Giftware sales have had a strong start to the year, indicating customers were shopping this department, as well as buying plants, pots and compost. Even in May, the peak spring month, gifts were showing a 10% uplift compared to May last year, with a similar increase for the year-to-date.
For the last two years, giftware sales have represented 11% of total garden centre sales, according to our Barometer of Trade. This represents a monetary value of sales of £687,000 in an average contributing garden centre for the whole of 2024, up by £29,000 on 2023.
So, what is driving this excellent performance. I would identify a few factors that I witness on my travels around our members’ garden centres. The quality of both the product offer and of the visual merchandising has improved significantly over the last few years and, judging from the pictures that our GCA inspectors share in their various presentations, those standards are continuing to rise.
Garden centres stock high quality products, while not the cheapest, they will last and provide enjoyment for many years. Our customers are very environmentally conscious and do not want throwaway products that are just destined for landfill.
On this same theme they take note of the environmental footprint of these products; where were they produced, how far have they travelled, are they made from recycled materials and can they be recycled once they do come to the end of their useful lives.
In the past, gift areas could become slightly forgotten during the spring gardening season with stock becoming untidy and dusty and displays losing their appeal. I feel garden centres now recognise that sales come from this area all year round, especially on any day when the weather is not nice enough to shop outdoors.
Also, non-gardeners are attracted to the area at all times of the year. Things like cards, which garden centres have simply the best offering of, is such an easy add on purchase to your morning coffee.
So, the message here is that while the main gift season is the two months running up to Christmas, you must impress customers during the rest of the year, so they shop continually and definitely return for the critical giftware peak.
