-   The winter saw prolonged low temperatures for much of theUK. It killed thousands of plants on nurseries and garden centres. It also killed many more in consumers’ gardens as well as cracking their flower pots and rupturing hose pipes and fittings.

-   As spring dawned sales took off, especially plants and everything to do with planting them. Was it the good weather or the high winter losses that boosted sales?

-   Then came drought for much of southernBritainwhile other parts squelched around in a quagmire. Hose fitting sales went through the roof, was it the spring drought or the winter frosts that meant the nation needed so many tap connectors and hose end guns?

No it was just the good weather because furniture and barbecues were selling too – ‘ahh great we are recession proof’ some pundits said as they placed orders for more containers of wicker weave from far off lands.

Then we got to the third week of May and somebody turned the tap off. And it has stayed pretty well turned off ever since. Who says we are not weather dependant.

Garden retail businesses that have diversified over the years may have made themselves less weather dependant but they have become more susceptible to other forces – competition from other retail sectors, the consumers economy drive and resistance to buying material possessions (or is that just recession?) You tinker with the fundamentals of our industry at your peril. But if we do not innovate we do not progress and having calculated the risk of venturing into the unknown, you give it all you have got and go for it.

Many things have changed in our sector. However one fundamental that has remained pretty constant is the season for sales. It starts about the beginning of March and will run until around the middle of June. However ‘peak season’ will only ever be around 8 weeks long and will come in that period somewhere:

-   starting early petering out to have another flourish later.

-   late starting and finishing

-   or like this year a really cracking early start almost on the 1^st of March and running out of steam by mid May.

So count our lucky stars I say, because by my reckoning that was nearly 10 weeks when we might only have got 8. Yes May and June have been a disappointment but what did you really expect?

This ‘unknown’ is why our industry needs suppliers and wholesalers. They can hold stocks in the supply chain, to deliver quickly when you need them. Retailers dealing with theFar East, selling through their forecasted volume of garden furniture (or anything else) by mid April and expecting to get another container in time to sell it this season are at best miss guided. However allow your supplier to make sufficient margin, and work with them seeking to anticipate your needs and they could be sitting on that stock for you when you need it in 6 days not 6 weeks. Certainly the safest way to manage stock availability and cash flow.

The extra margin of ‘dealing direct’ is appealing to a retailer, on the surface; but does it cover the true cost of the ‘extra’ you need to put in and the risk you take with your business? Be that risk the missed sales of not having stock or the risk of having too much at the end? One of those you can perhaps tolerate for a season as a business, but can you really afford both?

The traditional start to the garden buying season is here for many, September and the trade shows, bear in mind, supplier and retailer, the danger of pushing the boundaries of risk too far.

The biggest risk of course is not doing anything so get along to the trade shows, sniff out the new suppliers, the different products and talk to the folks on the stand. It costs you money to be at the trade show; both exhibitor and buyer so make sure you get your monies worth.  Glee is the most ‘all encompassing’ trade show for our sector. It is at the right time to do business, at the right time for our businesses.

Given the tough economics that are in the business market place, and they certainly are not going to get any easier for the next 12 months, we all need more value from the trade shows than ever. They are a very economical place to do business if we use them wisely. What better place for as many buyers and sellers to meet under one roof in a couple of days. How else can you see so many potential suppliers in a couple of days? Where else can you compare, side by side, the offerings from different suppliers? Could you really get 20 /30 orders placed in a couple of days sitting back at your retail outlet?

We all need something different to sell. We are all going to need new customers more than ever over the coming months. Your drive to get these starts now with trade show time. Make the most of it!

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---