HOW GARDEN CENTRES ARE REACTING TO THE ADVERSE WEATHER IMPACT

For years now Garden Centres have been impacted by the weather.  This year has been no difference and in the Horticulture Trade Association July Market Update, they reported that challenging trading conditions for garden centres continued in June 2024 due to ongoing adverse wet weather, which significantly affected sales in core gardening categories.

Fran Barnes, Chief Executive of the HTA, commented “In June 2024, we saw a 3% decrease in garden centre sales compared to June 2023. The bad weather has been a common theme for 2024. Sunshine hours in June, which are always critical to sales performance, were at just 72% of the levels for June 2023—days which also saw rainfall increase compared to 2023, making for challenging trading in garden categories.

“Sales in core gardening ranges and plants always bear the brunt of poor weather, and we are seeing that after the first six months of the year, sales of bedding plants are down 2% compared with the first six months of 2023, with hardy plants and trees down 7%. Specifically, bedding plants saw an 11% drop in sales in June, while hardy plants and trees experienced a 7% decline. Garden furniture sales were also notably impacted, falling by 38% compared to June 2023, with the summer scent of barbecues significantly absent -5%.

In contracts, when the weather is bad, we often see customers looking more indoors and the HTA data for June 2024 showed that indoor ranges and non-gardening categories continued to perform strongly. Catering sales surged by 16% year-on-year, food and farm shop sales increased by 22%, and wild bird care saw a significant boost, with sales up by 23%.

The adverse weather has always impacted core gardening and plant sales, however as we have seen, especially in recent years, the robust performance of indoor and non-gardening categories shows that garden centres remain a vital destination for consumers.

What we are also seeing is the rise of additional departments and experiences that also add a reason to visit garden centres and experiences.  Such things as wider catering offers, farm shops and visitor attractions are all giving customers reasons to visit more often and, in most cases, the weather does not affect these developments. 

Garden centres continue to review what they currently do, what they could do and what benefit they might have through increased diversification in retail, catering and added ventures.

There is no doubt that weather exerts a significant influence on consumer behaviour, especially in the gardening sector.   Whatever time of year it is, warmer, sunnier days will encourage the public to go outdoors, and often this leads to enthusiasm for gardening projects, and on the flip side cold, wet weather will keep people inside. 

At a time when weather is not predictable at any time of year, adding reasons for a customer to visit your garden centre could be the difference between success or failure.

For reference to your local weather you can visit the BBC weather website at https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather