Study: A Little Green Spreads Sunshine Around the Office
May 28, 08 HortScience, ScienceDaily
Employees in the green industry know what a mood booster plants can be in the work environment. But what about the cube dwellers — do they know the benefits of plants in the workplace? A recent study has the data to back up what we already know.
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Older Consumers Are Using Their Fair Share of Bandwidth
Dec 11, 07 eMarketer
Older Americans — baby boomers and silver surfers — are some of the most affluent consumers in the market. Online marketers could be missing out on big business by assuming they don't spend time at their computers.
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Holiday Shoppers Off to Slow Start, Gift Card Sales Up
Nov 13, 07 NRF
Retailers who are concerned that holiday sales aren’t living up to expectations need not worry: Shoppers are off to a slow start this year. According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2007 Holiday Consumer Intentions Survey, most consumers have yet to complete their holiday shopping. Another NRF survey found that as gift cards become more convenient, personalized and sought after, retailers can expect to see an increase in gift card sales this holiday season.
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Research: Customer-Driven Business Intelligence Leads to Retail Success
Oct 10, 07 RSR
Retailers have been collecting consumer data for years from a variety of sources, from POS to loyalty programs, surveys and focus groups. This data has been unavailable to the enterprise as a whole — until now. A report identifying ways to use up-and-coming technology and customer data is now available from Retail Systems Research.
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Free Webinar to Reveal Loyalty Marketing Trends
Oct 10, 07 COLLOQUY
More and more retailers are coming out with loyalty programs as a way to attract consumers. Once thought of as a way to differentiate your business, these programs are becoming quite saturated in the industry. A free webinar will present fresh information on loyalty program design strategy.
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Green Initiatives Attract Gen Y Shoppers
Sep 26, 07 MediaPost
According to a study conducted by Maritz Research, Generation Y is increasingly drawn to green marketers. Many of the big box retailers have already begun letting their customers know they are involved in the green initiative, and it’s paying off. Almost 50 percent of respondents said they are more likely to shop at a store if it is environmentally friendly.
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Loyalty Program Demographics Survey Released
Sep 12, 07 COLLOQUY
A new survey has been released detailing loyalty trends among six consumer segments in the U.S. population. This survey asked participants how they responded to loyalty programs and how satisfied they were with such programs, among other topics. The findings showed a high interest in loyalty programs, but often a lack of satisfaction.
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Consumers Continue Growing Environmentally Aware
Aug 8, 07 Garden Media Group
The May 2007 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey confirmed the trend that consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the environment. According to the poll, consumers showed a willingness to spend more on environmentally sound products. Companies are obliging this interest as they offer more eco-friendly merchandise.
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Floriculture Report Released By SAF
Jul 25, 07 SAF
The Society of American Florists has released the fourth edition of its seminal report, The Changing Floriculture Industry Report. This report contains a great deal more information than the last and promises to be very useful for all connected to the industry.
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National Retail Federation Releases June Retail Sales Figures
Jul 25, 07 National Retail Federation
Last week, the National Retail Federation released figures for sales increases and decreases in various areas of retail. Health and personal care stores were some of the more successful industries, while housing and garden equipment industries were harder hit with decreases in sales. After modest sales gains in June, retailers hope that the back-to-school season will bring consumer back into stores.
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New Seasonal Decorations Market Study Released
Jul 11, 07 Unity Marketing
Decorating is no longer just about the holidays; it is becoming a year-round market. Check out the new Seasonal Decorations Report for more information on what retailers can do to influence shoppers in their selections for decorations shopping.
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Consumers Plan To Spend On Fourth Of July Celebrations
Jun 27, 07 NRF
As consumers head into summer, gas prices still weigh heavily on their minds but not at the cost of their Fourth of July celebrations. According to the National Retail Federation, more than 60 percent of consumers plan on having a cookout or picnic, while 42.5 percent say they will attend fireworks displays or other community celebrations.
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Retail Sales Bounce Back In May
Jun 27, 07 NRF
Consumers’ spending habits were revived in May as retailers showed healthy sales gains across the board, helping to ease concerns about a slowing economy. According to the National Retail Federation, retail industry sales for May rose more than 5 percent over last year.
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Organized Retail On The Rise
Jun 13, 07 NRF
I have been hearing from garden center retailers all over the country, and it seems like they are not the only ones affected by the crime. According to the National Retail Federation’s third annual Organized Retail Crime survey, more than three-fourths of retailers said their companies have been victims of organized retail crime in the past year. Seventy-one percent say they have noticed an increase in organized retail crime activity in the past 12 months, a significant increase from 48 percent in 2006.
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Father’s Day Spending Up From Last Year
Jun 13, 07 NRF
Even though your target customers are women, men also love to garden as well. This is your chance to help them learn and develop that skill. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2007 Father’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, the average person will spend $98.34 on the holiday, up from $88.80 last year. Consumers are expected to spend a total of $9.9 billion on dads this year and 12.4 percent of that will be on home improvement or gardening tools.
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GWA Releases Late Spring Gardening Trends Research Report
May 23, 07 Garden Writers Association
It is finally here, the information you have been waiting for. The 2007 Late Spring Gardening Trends Research Report has been released, and it has come interesting information in it about what is going on with consumers right now. The report may help you get a better handle on trends and what your customers are going to be asking for when they come into your store.
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Loyalty Programs Attract Young Affluents
May 23, 07 Unity Marketing
Maybe you are finally hitting the mark, and young consumers want to shop at places that offer them loyalty programs. According to a new study done by Unity Marketing, young, affluent consumers who are members of loyalty programs spend twice as much as average luxury consumers.
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Research: Gas Prices Taking Toll On Consumers
May 23, 07 National Retail Federation
Have you all been to the pump lately and worried that you were going to have a heart attack right on the spot because of the prices? Or do receipts from your delivery trucks come in even higher, and you just shake your head in disbelief? The National Retail Federation’s 2007 Gas Prices Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey recently revealed that 74.2 percent of consumers currently believe irregular gas prices have impacted their spending habits compared with 76.3 percent in 2006.
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ONLA Increases Pledge To HRI
Feb 28, 07 ANLA
HRI and its Endowment Fund, the research division of ANLA, announced that the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association (ONLA) Board of Directors has agreed to increase its monetary pledge of $500,000 to $750,000 to HRI. Currently, the ONLA has $462,071 in the Ohio Research Endowment Fund, managed by HRI.
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NRF Forecasts 2007 Retail Growth
Jan 24, 07 National Retail Federation
Sales are a funny thing. Every year predictions come in about how much sales growth is expected, and it adds a little pressure to your year, right? Well, in light of the slowing housing market, the National Retail Federation predicts the first half of the year is going to see a slower sales gain. However, the second half is supposed to pick up.
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New Study Highlights Bad Customer Experiences Impact
Jan 24, 07 RightNow Technologies
How many of you wonder if bad customer experiences really cause a lack of sales in your stores? Here is a study that may add some insight into that aspect of the business. This study from RightNow Technologies states that customers swear, shout, get headaches and even cry as a result of negative experiences with the companies they buy from.
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Gift Card Spending Surpassed Expectations
Jan 24, 07 National Retail Federation
According to a recent report from the National Retail Federation, there was a huge surprise in gift card sales. Within the first couple of weeks after the holidays, a National Retail Federation survey stated that shoppers had already spent about 37.3 percent of their gift cards. That is a huge jump from past years. Hopefully, consumers either came in and cleaned you out or are waiting for the spring season.
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Candle/Home Fragrance Study Planned
Jan 10, 07 Unity Marketing
Candles and home fragrance have been growing in popularity for the last several years. Manufacturers have been coming up with creative ways to add more fragrance or give candles and candle accessories more creative looks. Now, Unity Marketing is taking on the task of doing a research study to help you learn more about candles and what you can do to bring more use to them in your stores.
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Holiday Shipping Deadlines Expire Soon
Dec 13, 06 Shop.org and Shopzilla
For all of you retailers competing with the online retailers, you may be in luck. A number of sites are ending the deadlines for shipping by Christmas as soon as next week, making your store a possible destination for last-minute gifts. Shop.org and Shopzilla recently did a study showing that online retailers are closing shipping deadlines quickly. See what else the study has to say about your online competition.
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Holiday Decorations Expected To Top $16 Billion
Dec 13, 06 Unity Marketing
According to a recent study from Unity Marketing, holiday decorations are on the rise. In 2004, consumers spent $14.7 billion, and in 2005, they spent $15.8 billion (a 7.4 percent increase). This year is expected to increase about 5-7 percent. Take a look at how your decoration sales went last year compared to this year so far and see how you measure up.
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Generation Y Holiday Wish List
Nov 29, 06 Retail Advertising and Marketing Association
This industry has enough trouble finding ways to get younger generations into stores. Now the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association is telling us they are into electronics and clothes instead of plants and plant-related gifts. However, just because they are into certain things doesn’t mean we can’t learn from this information and see what we can do to help get more Generation Y customers into your garden centers.
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Early Birds Catch The Worms On Black Friday
Nov 29, 06 National Retail Federation
Black Friday had sales galore this year. News stories reported that people were waiting in line at some places at 3 a.m. while some malls opened their doors at midnight. Basically, the message here is, “If there is a deal, they will come.” I know most of you do not need to open your store at 6 a.m., but Black Friday had some great deals and even got a girl (me) who does not like to shop on Black Friday to the mall leaving happily with a number of discounted purchases. Just some food for thought during a season that may need a little bit of an angle for garden centers.
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Pantone View Colour Planner For Summer 2008
Nov 29, 06 Pantone, Inc.
Color, color, color! Wouldn’t it be easier if our lives didn’t depend on what colors trends are hot for the year? No, I didn’t think so. Staying on top of the color trends is actually one of the most fun things for this industry. It gives us a chance to see and learn the new ways colors can go together, what combinations we can create from them, what gift items you are going to need to buy and so on. Without color, we wouldn’t be in business at all. So the more we know about it, the more fun we can have with it!
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Holiday Gift Card Sales Reach All-Time High
Nov 29, 06 National Retail Federation
All we have been hearing about for the past couple of years is gift cards, gift cards, gift cards. The National Retail Federation reports that this holiday season alone will increase gift card sales by $6 billion from last year. It seems that more people either don’t have as much time to look for the right gift or just find it easier to let the receiver pick it out themselves. Either way, it is a gold mine for places like garden centers. Give them the gift card now so they can come back in the spring to spend even more than the gift card amount.
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Standpoint Releases Outdoor Living Market Research
Nov 29, 06 Standpoint
Kip Creel has done it again. Along with his team from Standpoint (formally nQuery), Creel has developed some new research on outdoor living. Outdoor Living — A New Landscape for Home & Garden Consumers is a comprehensive look at the outdoor living market as viewed from a consumer perspective.
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Information Influences Holiday Shoppers
Nov 29, 06 Retail Advertising and Marketing Association
Product reviews, word of mouth, newspaper inserts, direct mail and more seem to be influencing holiday shoppers this year. People are looking for information, deals, highest quality and more through different media outlets. Some people still rely on television and radio while others are get information through E-mail, cell phones and other electronic methods. The more ways we can get information out there, the more people are going to tune and take a look.
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Shoppers Using Debit Cards
Nov 29, 06 National Retail Federation
Cash only retail is no longer acceptable for consumers. According to a new study from the National Retail Federation, fewer consumers will be giving cashiers cash and credit cards this holiday season, instead they will be handing over debit cards, which allow money to be taken right out of their checking accounts. People don’t want to carry around a lot of cash or have to worry about paying off credit card debt later in the year.
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Flowers Make An Impact At Home
Oct 9, 06 SAF and FPO
A new, exciting study from SAF and FPO offers information on how the mere presence of flowers in the home changes people’s moods. What a way to market plants! Marketing plants has been a battle in the green industry for so long; it is nice and refreshing to get information like this study and be able to use it to our advantage. This study might seem applicable only to florist shops because it focuses on cut flowers, but it is also applicable to annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs and much more.
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The Holidays Start Early Online
Oct 9, 06 National Retail Federation
The Internet is starting holiday sales early: What does that have to do with you? Competition comes from multiple venues now: traditional brick and mortar stores, catalogue sales and online. It seems that each year the winter holiday season comes a little bit earlier. The simple response to the competition is to stay on top, keep your traditions, add new ones and keep that merchandise moving. However, learning what the competition is doing is always a good way to one up them in their promotions. Read on and see what some online retailers are offering and how you can benefit from it.
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New Fall Consumer Gardening Attitudes
Sep 25, 06 Garden Writers Association
With fall practically here (hopefully, all of your displays are up and your plant materials have arrived with minimal damage), you must be ready to learn what is next on the list. The Garden Writers Association has come out with a new fall consumer report letting you know what consumers are doing for the season so you can better accommodate them when they walk into your store.
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Examining Loyalty Programs
Sep 25, 06 Maritz Loyalty Marketing
Loyalty programs: Should you or shouldn’t you? Well, taking a look at this study from Maritz shows that a loyalty program is a must to keep loyal customers and get younger consumers in the stores. Loyalty programs are all over the retail market, not just in the garden center category. See what these study results had to say about gender, demographic, region and so much more to help you make that final step or improve the program you already have.
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Style And Design Influence Luxury Consumers
Sep 25, 06 Unity Marketing
What influences luxury customers to shop? Style and design, of course. A study from Unity Marketing shows luxury consumers are buying based on what is new in fashion. And before you say fashion has nothing to do with this industry, think again. People want what is on top, what is stylish, what is in. This study is a way to check out what is going on in that category and how you can use it to your advantage.
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Study Focuses On Pampered Pets
Sep 11, 06 Unity Marketing
The pet trend seems to be soaring in all parts of the country, and believe it or not, a lot of your peers have already been on the pet supply bandwagon for a number of years. Unity Marketing is developing a way to let you know just how big the “pet pampering” market really is. The company is working on putting together a study to learn how popular this trend has become.
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Herbicide/Mulch Combo Offers Superior Weed Control
Aug 28, 06 The Ohio State Universtiy
Do you spend a lot of your time weeding in your garden center? Better yet, are your customers? The Ohio State University has been working on some studies that show a combination of mulch and pre-emergent herbicide treatments can provide weed control for nearly a year per single application. See how you can take that information and let your customers know they may no longer have to spend hours in the garden weeding; instead, they can just plant more.
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Project EverGreen Rates Consumer Perceptions
Aug 28, 06 Project EverGreen
How do consumers see this industry, and how are we trying to help them learn more about the value of green space? Project Evergreen has done a survey on the topic revealing that there are conflicting attitudes and misconceptions about the value of green spaces and green industry products and services.
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