Innovative Merchandising Boosts Sales of Water Plants Print
A tray of water plants, ready for the shipping trolley.
More and more European growers have adopted a marketing and sales strategy commonly referred to as “concept marketing.”  The idea itself is a relatively straightforward one that puts the grower, not the retailer, in charge of the marketing and sales process of their product.  It’s a whole lot more, however, than simply developing a catchy brand name and logo and providing the retailer with some tags and posters in the hopes of convincing the consumer to buy your product in the overly-crowded retail environment.  Concept marketing is a fully integrated approach to providing the retailer with a consumer-friendly method for easy “no-brainer” sale of their product at the retail level.  In fact, the retailer’s only real responsibility is to attract customers to the store and ring in the sale at the end of the visit.

All pots are custom-designed. This lid prevents water spillage and vandalism, while the tag is designed to be both eye-catching and informative enough to provide the customer with the confidence to make the purchase.
The concept, design and photography of all picture tags is produced in-house.
Several dozen trolleys are lined up and ready for next day shipment to a large chain of independent retailers.
The containers have been designed to minimize spillage, making it an ideal impulse buy item.
Beautifully designed tags are the ideal silent sales's person. Cultural information on the reverse side provides the customer with the confidence to make the purchase.
One European greenhouse grower of water plants has taken this philosophy to a whole new level with an integrated approach that takes into account virtually every detail from the time the plant is propagated to the time it is in the hands of the consumer at the check-out counter.  Explains grower John, “Our philosophy is that the consumer is the most important part of our business.  If they’re not willing to buy our product or pay the price, we won’t be able to stay in business. By taking more control of the demand side of the supply-demand chain, we have better control over our sales and our prices.”

One of the largest obstacles in convincing today’s convenience-demanding consumer to purchase a water plant is the water part of the equation.  This challenge has been overcome through the design of truly innovative containers.  All are made of see-through plastic and, depending on the type of water plant, there are both closed and open-lid containers.  The open lid styles are designed to be spill-proof and also help to reduce theft and vandalism at the retail level.  Colorful labels generate eye-appeal and of course, provide the necessary growing and care information.  John explains that these pots are custom-designed and manufactured for their company.  “We put a lot of thought into the design of each and every pot that we carry.  The start-up costs to put any new pot design into production is very substantial, and we can’t afford to be wrong too often.”

An equal amount of investment has gone into the formulation of their growing media, a sterile product which allows the company to export to off-continent markets such as the US, Japan and South Africa.  And, within the domestic market place, this sterile growing medium, which John describes as being similar to kitty litter, is also preferred by grocery stores and other retailers that don’t wish to display soils or “dirty” products on their shelves.  Best of all, says John of his secret recipe, “plants just love it.”

To simplify the sales’ process even further, water plants sold within the domestic market place are shipped on attractive sales’ stands.  There are a number of different designs to meet the various needs of their retail clients.  The company works closely with their retail clients to determine an appropriate product mix for the time of the year or on special price promotions.

Outside of the domestic marketplace, all product, including pots, plants, media, tags etc. are shipped in bulk to a contract grower who is responsible for assembling product and sales and shipping to retailers, generally large chain garden centers and mass merchandisers.

The company has also taken full control of their artwork requirements for the production of labels, tags, shelf signage and more.  The in-house art department even features their own photography studio and it is here, more than in any other aspect of their company, says John, where they are able to take control of their niche in the marketplace.  “Studies have shown that you have only seven seconds to convince a customer to buy your product.  Labels and packaging are a huge part of that decision-making process.  We just weren’t convinced that anything we could buy off the shelf would work for us so we decided to make this an in-house function.”

Besides controlling the all-important visual aspects required of effective labels and signage, by doing all production in-house, the company also has full control over the label content, including product use and care.  Recognizing that more often than not the sale is an impulse one, it is important that the customer is also provided with enough information to give her the confidence to make the purchase.  “We have only a few seconds to catch the eye of the consumer; once they make the decision to pick it up off the shelf, we then have only a few minutes to turn them into an informed water plant gardener,” notes John.

Of course, all of the careful planning that is required of a successful concept marketing strategy must be backed up by a quality and well-planned production program.  At the company’s 18,000 sq. metre (4.5 acre) greenhouse facility, all facets of production are largely automated.  Water is tested daily to ensure quality nutrient levels.  And as up to 35 percent of product is exported to off continent markets, the production facility is inspected regularly by the national plant protection organization. 

Acknowledging that it has taken a few years to arrive at this finely tuned sales and production model, John also notes that even today they take nothing for granted and are continually on the look out for better efficiencies and especially marketplace trends.  By being in control of all aspects of the business, they are able to achieve their ultimate goal, which is to have better control over both their market share and the price realized by their product.
 

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