Impulse items are a great way to add on to existingsales. But what is the best way for garden centerretailers to make sure customers take notice? It isimportant not to bombard customers at checkoutwith overflowing displays, but retailers need to

somehow pique customers’ interest. It turns out sim-plicity may be the answer: A few well-placed, season-appropriate, inexpensive products are a good way toincrease impulse sales. It doesn’t hurt to make sureyour customers know about featured impulse itemsthrough well-placed signage throughout your store.

Maintain Uncluttered DisplaysAn attractive, colorful display is key to sparking a

spontaneous purchasing moment, said Angie Eckert,retail manager of Eckert’s Garden Center, Belleville,Ill. Basically anything colorful grabs attention, whetherneeded or not, and is likely to be added to the cart.

Eckert picks up tips from retail expert John Stanley,who recommends uncluttered checkout lane shelvingstocked with three or four items for the eye �

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Though they are often small and inexpensive items, impulse purchases help increase overall sales and number of items per transaction.Learn the best ways to pique your customers’ interest and increase impulse purchases at your garden center.

By Clare Adrian

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MakingImpulse Items

Work

Priced under $10, hand trowels in assorted colors at L.A. Reynolds GardenShowcase sell like hotcakes year round. They are arranged on standard,waist-high shelf end caps in front of the registers.

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to focus on. Less is more. Avoidcreating a display that can’t bedigested in a few minutes whilecustomers wait in line. A customeris more likely to pick up one ofthree products presented that areaccompanied by simple signs stat-ing their specific uses.

At Eckert’s Garden Center,items assigned to the woodenshelves of the checkout lane areinterchanged monthly. Eckertplans in advance what will be fea-tured. She wants to be certainenough of the product is on handto create the display and it is rele-vant to the correct season.

The Right PricePrice plays a major role in the

impulse-buying scenario. Stagingitems under $10 in impulse zonesaids buyers in justifying theiractions. Customers are more ableto rationalize purchases under $10because they are generally not seenas “major” purchases. If the price ismore than $20, customers aremore likely to weigh whether or

not they need to make the extrapurchase. Additionally, productsthat don’t require installation oraren’t complicated, like gardenstakes, stepping stones or smallstatues, tend to be spontaneouslypurchased more, said Eckert.

Ken Long, part owner of L.A.Reynolds Garden Showcase,Winston-Salem, N.C., has discov-ered a certain item that is oftenpurchased as a spur-of-the-momentsale in his store: Priced under $10,hand trowels in assorted colors selllike hotcakes year round. He hasthem arranged on standard, waist-high shelf end caps in front of theregisters. Anything more than $10just doesn’t sell, commented Long.

Inexpensive, colorful items arekey. Long feels flower fertilizerpackaged in colorful, shiny, plasti-cized bags displays well. The pack-ages are stacked on a pallet at theregister area. There is also a dis-play of potting soil for $4.99. Latein spring, Long adds the inexpen-sive, $.99 plant watering spike tothe register aisle shelves. �

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Cross-merchandising impulse items creates additional add-on opportunities: Try placing small bags offertilizer, soil and containers alongside small planting tools and gloves, as shown in this Strange’sGarden Center display.

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Retailers should sort out popularhard-good items that are under$10. Anyone with a good POS sys-tem can discern appropriateimpulse items specific to a particu-lar garden center’s location andconsumer base, said Long.

Find The Right PlacePlacement is critical, said Eckert.

The product itself determines thebest placement. Try positioningproducts near related categoryareas, she advised. Cross-merchan-dising impulse items creates add-onopportunities. For instance, smallbags of fertilizers and soil enhanc-ing products work well in the prox-imity of pottery. “If picking out apot, [consumers] are likely going toplant something in it and are think-ing about those items, so a visualreminder of the need creates thatspontaneous moment of picking itup. They may not know they needit, but seeing it, they think, ‘Yes, Ineed that,’” said Eckert

The entry area in front of theregister is the last chance to easilygrab wants and needs, but it is notenough, said Eckert. Impulse prod-ucts need to be stationed through-out the plant material displays andgift merchandise areas to impactpeople more than once.

For consumers, shopping is a dis-tracting process of juggling personalproperty and purchases. Customersaren’t always noticing what productsare vying for their attention. “If theycan be reminded subtly throughoutthe whole store visit that there are

other things they may need to go withwhat they are purchasing, they won’tnotice the hard sales pitch, and youropportunities for increasing your aver-age sale is better,” counseled Eckert.

Reinforce The ProductBy the time customers queue up in

the checkout line at Strange’sGarden Centers in Richmond, Va.,they have already seen signs thatTom Rush, general manager atStrange’s, has posted all throughoutthe store. “Customers may see thesame sign message 10 times beforegetting to the register. By that time,they are preconditioned,” he point-ed out. In addition, store clerksinform customers about the featureditems and cashiers inquire abouteach customer’s interest in the avail-able items, which are generally hardgoods under that $10 price point.

Rush doesn’t rely on the appear-ance and convenience of the 6-ft.traditional end cap-wrapped gon-dola counters. Strange’s displaysare designed to attract interestfrom customers, and Strange’s staffcreates unique impulse displaysusing the featured products.

Units are kept full and the stockis rotated monthly, but the prod-uct mix never includes large,bulky, expensive items. “It shouldbe product that caters to thelargest audience possible, pick upitems such as gloves and handtrowels: The items priced at $4.99down to the $.50 plastic saucers.They may not be sure they haveone at home, and since ours are

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Rotate impulse item displays often and be sure to update them so they are always seasonallyappropriate. (Photo: Pasquesi Home and Garden)

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inexpensive, they don’t mind pick-ing up another,” explained Rush.

Think In BulkMike Pasquesi, part owner of

Pasquesi Home and Garden, LakeBluff, Ill., remarked, “We go for thebulk look, a mini pallet of productin the aisle near the product area.The customer’s premise seems tobe that, “If the store has a lot, thenI must need it.”

The bulk items are positioned sothat customers who are shoppingcan’t miss seeing them; they arealso placed in proximity to similarproduct categories. If the cus-tomers miss the first display, anoth-er opportunity to buy the bulkitems exists on certain plant tablesand again at the register.

The choice of what to promotefor an impulse sale depends on theseason, and the best ones are basic,simple products that everyoneneeds, Pasquesi recommended.“Those that are a bit more uniqueor complex and not known don’tdo as well as the well-known sure-sell MiracleGro.” Basic fertilizersare juxtaposed next to the cartloadof seasonal plants garden shoppersare looking to purchase.

The top-selling impulse attrac-tants range in price: In Pasquesi’sestimation, from $4.99 to $14.99,but the optimum is right at $9.99.“When customers are spendinghundreds of dollars on plants, theydon’t mind another $10,” he said.

Periodically, when an added salespush is desirable, Pasquesi offers a

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print coupon for $1 off the impulseitem of choice. The coupons are avisible reminder to customers and anaddition to the product displays.Sales clerks carry them and remindshoppers of their availability. “Thesales clerks,” said Pasquesi, “are really

the ones that promote impulse prod-uct with their recommendations.”

Clare Adrian is a freelance writer based inColumbia, Mo. She can be reached atclare@claritivity.com or (573) 356-0375.

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Eckert’s Garden Center keeps checkout unitsfull of merchandise.

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