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What’s Driving Fall Sales? |
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Written by Brian Minter
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 What’s going to drive fall sales this year? Well, it’s all about innovation. We live in a world of specialized niche marketing, and it’s our turn to turn some heads!
I’ve mentioned many times before the importance of tapping into the home décor market, and fall provides us with a great number of opportunities. Fall means both indoor and outdoor autumn décor, Halloween, and the beginning of Christmas displays.
Many of our customers have a fairly good sense of what they like in their indoor décor, but when it comes to putting it together, they need some help. Many of our more innovative suppliers are doing just that. There are some pretty neat décor materials out of the Orient these days, which you see in the major box outlets, groceries and furniture stores. The problem is, they all look the same. Finding the best of these décor items and adding a florist’s touch is, I’m convinced, the way to go. Even home décor folks lack a florist’s touch. It’s all about value adding some of the neat stuff out there. Whether it be vases, wall pockets, mirrors, plant stands or whatever, we know best how to customize it for our clients.
Creating that special look for our customers is a wonderful service we can provide by ‘bundling’ our merchandise. Let’s not sell individual pieces – let’s sell the package. Garlands, wreathes and railing pieces, sold as groupings, is an easy way for those not so savvy folks to have a great outdoor look. Many garden stores in the U.S. are packaging corn stalks, hay bales, pumpkins and scarecrows for an instant and good looking outdoor splash. I can see us easily doing a fall centerpiece, fabric sunflowers in vases and fall candles and holders as an indoor grouped display package. When it comes to indoor décor, our customers are dabblers, and they would really appreciate a package that instantly makes them look good. Two, three and four hundred dollar packages are not out of the question, as long as folks perceive the value.
Halloween should follow the same pattern, but it should be very upscale. Specialty lights, brooms, spider webs and bats that have a bit of class and humour, all properly packaged for the indoors or outdoors, can be tailor made for an instant Halloween fix. I believe our future involves custom work in private homes, so make sure that option is available – it’s an enormous opportunity.
 It’s also time to begin Christmas. This year, why not create the same packaging technique. We all buy by themes, so let’s sell a packaged theme, whether it be table décor with candles, mantelpieces, arranged groupings, complete Christmas décor for table trees and front door and porch combinations – there are so many possibilities, but it has to be customized to suit our best customers’ décor budgets. The nice thing about packaging is the fact that many folks will want to add pieces to further enhance the look they are trying to achieve.
Like the Body Shop, we need to set the mood for selling by creating fabulous displays, the right lighting and wonderful fragrances. Wight’s Garden Store in Seattle, Washington repaint their various themed gift areas for each season. This, plus the theming they do, has moved them from good gift sellers to great gift sellers. Fall starts today! Let’s innovate, create and package fall to help our customers achieve a series of great autumn décor opportunities.
Brian Minter and his wife, Faye, own and operate two major garden centers, a greenhouse range, two flowers shops and a 27-acre, world-class show garden in Chilliwack, B.C.
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