Developing Business In The Garden Industry
Green it Yourself trend drives garden market
Following a strong trading year, up 6% on 2008, the garden industry is set to benefit from a growing interest in ‘grow your own’, gardening, green products and sustainable living in 2010.
These latest findings, reported in the winter 2010 issue of HTA’s Garden Industry Monitor (GIM) Market Update, show how there is increasing concern for waste or excess of any kind*. Largely driven by the need to cut costs during the recession it is anticipated that this is a trend here to stay as consumers have become conditioned to thinking carefully about the use of their time, money and resources generally.
This mind set will build further interest in reducing carbon emissions, pollution and waste, while driving disciplined consumption decisions and reinforcing recycling and reuse behaviours. The explosion in interest seen last year in gardening and growing plants and seeds, particularly edibles, will continue in 2010.
Yet it is not only the ‘Grow your Own’ categories that should benefit garden retailers and products suppliers this year. This consumer behaviour will translate into broader opportunities for recycled and recycling products, for wildlife care, biodiversity and a wider ‘Green it Yourself’ (GIY) movement alongside renewed interest in garden design and garden projects. As economic recovery accelerates and we see increased confidence and more movement in the housing market, this should be good news for the landscape sector too.
Adam Wigglesworth, Director of Ayletts Nurseries and member of the HTA Retail Management Committee comments, “Standing in the shop last week I had to marvel at the resilience of our customers and trade. Having had ten days of snow and cold weather, the shop was full of people buying seed potatoes and seeds; the ‘grow your own’ boom will continue strongly in 2010.
He adds, “Meanwhile the increasing connection that youngsters have with the environment is developing a pool of customers that will continue to benefit our sector in the future. We need to grab these opportunities with both hands. This is not a temporary makeover, but a sea change within the national consciousness as to the value of gardening, plants and the products we retail.”
A new analysis of the HTA Gardening Continuum underlines the growth in interest and time spent gardening in recent years. Based on research commissioned by the HTA from Ipsos-Mori, the analysis shows that the average time spent gardening in the main season has risen over the last four years to stand at 3.9 hours per week in 2009 and bring the average back towards the peak measured in 2001 when TV garden makeover programmes has a high profile.
Interest in gardening too has risen with 67% of all gardeners saying that they would like to do more gardening in 2009 compared with 60% ten years earlier.
Andrew Maxted, HTA Director of Marketing, comments, “According to the HTA’s Retail Business Benchmark survey December proved the best performing month of the final quarter with sales up by an average of 5% on the previous year. As we move towards the 2010 season the industry is in good shape and there are many opportunities ahead. With more people interested in gardening, grow your own and green issues, the challenge will be to produce an inspiring and informative offer to capture their interest now and for the years to come.”
The latest edition of the new GIM Market Update Winter 2010 draws on data from the HTA’s Retail Business Benchmark programme to show how sales in garden centres and nurseries have fared in 2009 compared to 2008.
The update also presents data from the BRC KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showing how the garden market has performed against High Street and other retail outlets. The update also summarises consumer confidence data, UK house prices and weather data from the Met Office.
The HTA GIM Market Update is free to members and published on a quarterly basis with the next edition available in late April covering the first quarter/January to March period. HTA members wishing to access the update should visit www.the-hta.org.uk/gim and click on the GIM Market Update tab.
Contacts
Gill Ormrod or Angela Bean
HTA Press Office
Tel: 0118 930 3132
Email: press.office@the-hta.org.uk
*Research commissioned by the HTA from the Future Foundation.
HTA Retail Business Benchmark
The Retail Business Benchmark data is collected on a monthly basis from HTA retail members. All retail members are invited to submit sales and input figures via the web and those that do so benefit from receiving more detailed benchmarking data. Currently a panel consisting of around garden centres and retail nurseries submit data to the survey on a regular basis.
Last updated: 05/02/2010 14:21