Promote The Unusual And The Practical In Houseplants In Your Garden Center

Q: How can we increase sales of our indoor plants?
Kelsey Bruce, Cedar Rim Nursery

Advice From Ben Polzin, Down To Earth Garden Center

We have had really good luck bringing weird and different indoor plants that are not your grandma’s house plant. We have also seen a large increase in 2-inch foliage and succulents partially due to fairy gardens and terrariums, but people are also using them on their own in small pots.

Large (12 inch-plus) indoor plants have also seen a good increase with all the interior decorating magazines giving people ideas on how to use them in new ways. We try to do a lot of promoting of interior decorating magazines, as they are full of ideas on how to use indoor plants in your interior design.

Advice From Dustyn Nelson, The Garden Barn Nursery

Move your indoor plants to a prime location during gap times to help increase sales. In August when there are not many annuals left in the greenhouse, but still time before mums, we put indoor plants front and center. This helps grab people’s attention and gets them interested in plants they may have not known existed.

We use signage to promote the benefits of indoor plants, such as the fact they clean the air. Also be sure to provide signage about the plants themselves. Include key points about light, water and fertilizer requirements. Use phrases like “Easy To Care For” or “For Beginners” on plants such as snake and spider plant. Also be sure to point out the ones that can take low light conditions, with phrases such as “Great For Any Office” or “For Low Lighting.” This helps customers think about other uses for the plant rather than just in their home.

Provide plenty of information about the plants to help reduce the consumer’s fear. If your indoor plants do not come with care tags, be sure to order some. Also provide information about how to care for pest problems or how to bring indoor plants inside for the winter.

Advertise the fact that you can make custom dish gardens. I recommend using indoor plants in container gardens with annuals and perennials. Promote the fact that they can bring the plant indoors at the end of the season, giving it more than one purpose. If your shop does not have a florist, but you often get calls for fresh flowers, prior to hanging up offer the customer a house plant or custom dish garden.

Display pottery near the indoor plants to give customers a way to dress them up. If the customer is just shopping for pottery, they may see a plant they like in the process. Offer cross promotions with the pottery and other indoor plant-related products. One example is “Spend $25 on indoor plants, get 20 percent off your entire pottery purchase.”

Advice From Jeff Griff, Lowe’s Greenhouse

We use vendors who can supply frequent and small shipments so we can keep a fresh looking inventory. We try to have more than just what the box stores carry (primarily 6 to 10-inch floor plants) so we have larger and smaller specimens. We try to have as much in a gift-ready condition as possible, since that is what many of our plants are used for. Finally, we try to stay abreast of trends and carry what people are looking for: blooming color, air plants, fairy garden plants, succulents and easy-care selections.

Our tropical sales are up 40 percent year to date, which isn’t normal, but we have done a better job of merchandising as well as paying attention to the details I have mentioned.

Advice From Jennifer Schamber, Greenscape Gardens

When it comes to indoor houseplants, one of our most-asked questions is, “Is this safe for my pet?” So we have a pet-friendly section which is very helpful for both the customer and for our team. We have found that plants in that section tend to turn faster than those in an unmarked area.

Advice From Kate Terrell, Wallace’s Garden Center

This is a great question and a place where I feel garden centers can find more sales, especially in the off-season. We have made several steps in the past few years to create a destination houseplant department. Just this year we even filmed a 30-second commercial to tell people about our department.

We gave our houseplant department dedicated space that is large enough to carry the products that we want and that doesn’t shrink or expand with the seasons.

We have made an effort to always have the right kind of pottery (mostly attached saucer 4 to 8-inch ceramic pots) for houseplants. We also offer free potting if you buy the plant and the pot from us.

We make a point to always have a large selection of fairy or miniature plants as well as terrarium plants and supplies. We have a goal to always have five to ten finished terrariums and five to eight completed fairy gardens to inspire people. We strive to have a good selection of cacti and succulents.

We also always have in stock the stuff that kids look for like sensitive plants and venus fly traps. Recently we have found large success with air plants (tillandsias) and are now re-ordering every six weeks or so.

We carry, year-round, large (8- to 12-inch) floor plants that could be used in homes and offices.

Most importantly, we have at least one person staffed in the department at all times. The staff member is a horticulturist who specializes and likes houseplants. We offer re-potting services, pest diagnosis and treatment recommendations.

We have seen increased sales in the department because of the attention we have focused on it. Just tonight we sold a $500 25-gallon container orange tree (in Iowa) for someone to put in the south windows by their indoor pool. It was an anniversary gift for his wife.

Advice From Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, Natureworks

During the holiday season we try to carry houseplants other than the normal poinsettias, and often they sell well for us. Marketing to the younger generation is the way to go with houseplants.

Advice From Gary Lewis, Phoenix Perennials

Get cool indoor plants such as succulents, air plants and drosera. The more unusual the better. These engage millennials and Gen-X’ers. Do workshops on using these plants creatively for indoor decoration.

Advice From Sandi Hillermann McDonald, Hillermann Nursery and Florist

We have a floral shop that sells houseplants all year long, but we also bring in the idea of clean air in the home, as well as celebrating miniature gardens. You can also promote the idea of color in the house year long. The younger generation is so interested in this, so flaunt it! I learned at Cultivate that the younger generation doesn’t care that annuals last only a year, because it means they can change out their selection more often.

Advice From Steve Mostardi, Mostardi Nursery

It’s necessary to have a superior selection year round, avoiding the typical run of the mill chain store plants. Try and find a re-wholesaler in the region to supply smaller quantities more frequently. Supplement domestic growers with seasonal color and specialty plants from Canadian distributors.

Advice From Tish Llaneza, Countryside Gardens

Keep an eye on new apartment developments. A 134-unit senior apartment complex just opened near us. We dropped off a dish garden to the manager with “Welcome to the Neighborhood” flyers with store information, including classes and a 25 percent-off coupon for any houseplant. All of the apartments have a small balcony perfect for a small bistro set, over the rail containers and small raised garden containers with legs for those that don’t want to completely give up gardening.