In the year and a bit since the emergence of COVID-19, businesses have learned that the only way to survive is to pivot and do it fast, whether you work in restaurants or garden sales. Curbside shopping has surged, allowing consumers to buy online and pick up their products from a safe distance, and as COVID starts to settle down, curbside pickup looks like it might stick around for a while. 

Customers are still shopping; they’re just doing it differently, prioritizing convenience and fast shopping experiences. Even garden shopping can benefit from following the trend of online shopping and curbside pickup. The key to setting your business up for success is to stay current with online trends and be ready to react quickly to changes in the market. 

Improvisation is Key

Through the ups and downs of government regulations, public safety mandates and everything else that came at us, adapting to the current market is the life raft to which we must cling. Improvisation is key to surviving in a rapidly changing market.

During quarantine, online grocery shopping increased drastically—and it’s essential that garden shopping is available online and with curbside pickup too!  

Why Offer Curbside Pickup for Garden Shopping?

With an unpredictable future, having curbside pickup for garden shopping lets you keep your customers and your employees safe in case of another wave of COVID. 

Consumers have adapted to the convenience of pre-ordering products and picking them up, focusing their time on other things in life like family and self-care. At the end of the day, your business still makes money; there’s no loss from people not coming in the brick and mortar, only potential to build repeat customers and safe garden shopping experiences. 

What Consumers Are Looking For In Garden Shopping

• Quality over variety: While variety is the spice of life, it’s also overwhelming when garden shopping. Customers who can trust that your products are the best of the best every time will be faithful.
• Meaningful gifts: The days of generic gift-shop items are fading, and meaningful, locally-made products are thriving. Holding promotions for holidays and customer appreciation goes a long way to enrich your customers’ garden shopping experience. 
• Experiences, but outdoors: Consumers are still willing to participate in outdoor activities, which are much safer than enclosed spaces. If you can move your business outside, like a floral arrangement class, you’ll likely see more traffic!
• Unique partnerships with other businesses: Partnering with other local businesses is a great way to foster unity and promote sales. It’s both goodwill and good to promote garden shopping!
• Online content: Pairing online content with purchases is a great way to keep customers interacting with your business. A quick video tutorial with a product for customers to watch at home is a great way to establish meaningful consumer interactions. 
• Quick adaptation: Your customers want to trust that you’ve got their backs and that they can still trust in your services when new health and safety protocols come out.

Online Trends Paired with Garden Shopping 

Short video content, such as TikTok videos or Instagram stories, are very successful marketing tools for many businesses. You can pair them with long-form video content, such as YouTube videos, which takes a bit more editing skills but can help establish a business online. Keeping up with online trends is a great way to generate business and encourage people to go garden shopping! 

Jumping into online platforms can be daunting for many business owners. You’re good at what you do—making gardening a great experience—but building a website or creating YouTube videos can be a bit much! We highly recommend hiring a marketing company or a social media manager to help you get your business trending online. 

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The highest return on your investment is a consistent marketing campaign that delivers engaging content and directs customers to your website. From writing your blog to designing and delivering your newsletter and promoting your knowledge on social, we do it all so you can focus on running your Garden Center.

Discovery calls are free! Contact us today for information about our services.

(1) Hubspot. How Interactive Content Can Help You Increase Your Leads by 47% [Customer Story]