10 Ways To Improve Garden Centre Sales in 2025

Garden centres in the UK are big business - over two-thirds of British adults visit a garden centre every year, collectively spending around £8 billion [1]!

But how do you ensure that customers choose your store to visit, and spend plenty of money?

Read on to reveal our top 10 ideas to improve sales in your garden centre today!

1. Anticipate seasonal demand

Don’t overstock for the quieter winter months, but do ensure you have the products needed for that season (such as frost covers and pot risers) well-marketed and easy-to-find. Add outdoor signs to advertise these to passing customers. Also, if you display simple informational tips in countertop signs around these products, novices can quickly understand why they’re an important investment to ensure the longevity of their gardens.

If you do find that you've overstocked on certain items, you can always try putting them on an irresistible discount and placing them around the checkout area in dump bins to promote impulse buys.

2. Create themed sections

Grab attention and inspire your customers with themed product areas such as "grow your own food", grouping vegetables, fruits, herbs and even edible flowers, or "colour is king" with a curated array of your brightest flowers. Use showcard stands to add information and graphics to these sections.

3. Group items for cross-selling

As above, cross-selling is another way to group items that will prompt your garden centre visitors to stock up on items that they might not have even considered previously.

For example, if you’re selling potted rose bushes, encourage add-on sales by placing the relevant pruning shears, best rose feed, trowels and gloves nearby.

Likewise, in summer, you can add items to your garden furniture displays. This will set a scene, prompting customers to pick up a few extra bits while they’re there. Think outdoor drink coolers, barbecues and even gardening hats, sunglasses and sunscreen!

4. Improve wayfinding

Ever struggled to find what you want in a shop? It’s so frustrating and off-putting! Signpost for wayfinding clearly so that customers can easily locate the items they need. Overhead signs ensure that different sections can always be identified, even from a long distance in a large area. For shelved items, aisle signs and shelf sign fixings make it easy to spot different product types and brands.

5. Give brochures to every customer

If you don’t already have a business brochure, now’s the time to create one! Displaying a brochure in a brochure stand by your checkout or exit improves the chance that your brand will stick out in your customers’ memories. They will take home your catalogue and refer back to it, increasing the chances of them becoming a return customer. This is especially useful for larger, more expensive purchases which they may be more cautious about making spontaneously.

6. In-store brand activations

If you regularly sell items by well-known brands, it is often well worth partnering with them to create branded in-store displays which will catch the eyes of customers.

Speak to your suppliers about this - big, household names may often have a bigger budget, allowing them to send you bespoke display items or unique offers to promote their products.

7. Digital displays

Ensure your business stays up-to-date by investing in high-quality digital screens, which are proven to increase sales [2]. Not only can you use these to display stunning graphic advertisements, but you can also use interactive touchscreens to engage customers on a deeper level.

An Android display screen will allow you to download your own apps, which customers can use to find out more information, or staff members can use to demonstrate with. If you don’t currently have an app for your garden centre, this is another great option to explore. Your customers will appreciate the ability to easily get information such as grouped items by compatibility, such as the best soils and feed for certain plant types.

8. Highlight your green appeal

Environmental concerns are top-of-mind for a lot of people now, especially for gardeners. But gardeners have a good opportunity to make a difference and use their green spaces to help wildlife and improve air quality.

Use your in-store displays and digital marketing efforts to shout about your eco-friendly credentials, and to shine a spotlight on your greenest products, explaining how they can help our environment and ecosystem.

Examples of products to promote here include your best peat-free compost; plants that encourage pollinators; and garden accessories to attract wildlife such as insect hotels, hedgehog houses, bat boxes and bird feeders.

9. Invest in your café

If you don’t currently have a cafe in your garden centre, why not?! Research by Savills has shown that cafés can account for 20% of turnover [3]. Plenty of people go to garden centres as a leisure activity, and see it as a day out. After shopping, they’ll be needing a break for drinks and food. Maybe, while they have a rest in your cafe, they’ll reconsider some of your items and head back to the tills with even more goods!

"Diversifying income beyond core products via concessions has proven to increase dwell, footfall and revenue; cafés can account for 20% of turnover" [3]

Make sure you have all your café prices and deals clearly marked out with A boards, tabletop signs, food counter price labels and chalkboards.

10. Cater to a wide range of customers

Don't assume your customers are a particular demographic and cater only to them. While people aged 65 and over spend the most on gardening products [4], 54% of 18–24 year olds have reported that would rather go to a garden centre than a nightclub [5]!

Therefore, you should ensure that your space is fully accessible and attractive to the older generation, while stocking product ranges that suit a younger demographic, such as indoor plants and pots to suit container gardening and balcony gardens, for those with smaller spaces.

Summary

By following these tips and combining creative promotions with a well-organised layout, you will see your sales soar, as well as keeping your garden centre customers coming back for more.

References

1. ‘Garden Industry Statistics’, The Horticultural Trades Association (2023), https://hta.org.uk/news-events-current-issues/industry-data/garden-industry-statistics.

2. ‘Digital screens in Ireland Shopper Investigation’, POPAI, In-store Insights (December 2022), Issue 52, pp 5-11.

3. ‘UK Garden Centre Spotlight – 2023’, Savills (11 July 2023) https://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/229130/349031-0.

4. ‘Here Are 13 Interesting (And Surprising) Gardening Statistics From UK Households’, Horticulture Magazine (2023), https://horticulture.co.uk/gardening/statistics/.

5. ‘UK Garden Centre Market in Minutes’, Savills (30th Sept 2024), https://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/229130/366725-0.