Christmas magic only or year-round appeal?
Monday 11 November 2024
The best place for Christmas shopping is the garden centre, as the sales figures for garden centres show. Christmas is traditionally the strongest sales period, accounting for 25% to 40% of annual sales for most. The appeal of these shows attracts not only regular customers, but also many new visitors looking for specific Christmas products. How can you overcome the seasonal challenges so that you see these visitors all year round?
Biggest challenges in the winter period
Still, there are some challenges for garden centres during this cold period:
- Energy consumption: The colder weather increases the cost of heating greenhouses and rooms comfortably. This plays a role in profit margins, especially given current energy tariffs.
- Investment in time, space and equipment: Christmas shows and winter collections require a lot of space. This often means temporary adjustments in layout, which is intensive in both time and logistics. It also takes a lot of time to get the whole department into the Christmas spirit. Do these costs outweigh the absence or partial sale of Christmas items?
- Accessibility: Is the garden centre easily accessible? Are there enough parking spaces? Poor weather conditions can also lead to reduced visitor numbers.
How can we as builders help garden centres?
- Energy-efficient climate control: insulating materials that retain heat better and energy management solutions can help garden centres control energy costs and improve customer comfort. This is nice not only during the cold winter period, but also during the hot summer months;
- Flexible layouts: a canopy of or dry awning at the outdoor sales area gives the opportunity to include the space outside to the shop and thus make optimal use of it;
- Weatherproof access: covered entrances and parking areas can better protect customers from cold, wind and rain in winter, making their visit more attractive. Covered parking can become profitable again with a solar roof;
- Advice screens: there are different types of screens: Christmas cloth/darkening cloth, insulation screen, energy cloth, etc. By choosing the right screen, a garden centre can optimize the climate and save energy, while flexibly adapting the space to different seasons and events.
If you would like advice on how your garden centre can perform better during the Christmas period (preferably all year round, of course), please contact us. We will be happy to advise you and without any obligation.