The taste of the price

The garden season is starting timidly, the taste of the price can be bitter for customers who look twice before choosing. Plus, if we add the slightly gloomy weather… It’s not great! In short, there’s nothing to enjoy behind the garden store checkout…

The taste of the price.

We want to garden, but we need a few days of good weather. Apart from a clear spell in mid-March, the weather is not really looking good. And what’s more, expenses are controlled. Indeed, when it comes to the wallets of our garden consumers, the beautiful fixed is not really a party item.

In short, the garden centers visited here and there look a little gloomy. Fortunately, spring finally arrives this April. It’s not easy to be weather dependent!

Customers will inevitably return. Obviously spring is only once a year, so you have to take advantage of it but… not at any cost!

The impact of promotions could weigh heavily in deciding the last holdouts.

Throughout the plant sections visited, it is easy to notice that the recipe is not the same everywhere.

Some are convinced of their quality and notoriety and do not make any particular effort to promote them. Others, on the other hand, clearly display their aggressiveness on the price side.

The taste for price is not the same depending on the garden centers and garden departments!

Aromatics.

For 2 years now and for the purposes of our Garden Consumer Guidewhich has been published every year since 2021, our specialists regularly visit garden centers, all brands combined, and throughout France. These visits allow you to see the developments, feel the welcome on site, compare the highlights and observe the prices.At the start of 2024, we decided to compare some prices and we chose, among other things, aromatics in 1 liter.A priori, the differences on such a common product should not be too significant.Thyme and aromatics in general are products where the consumer can linger, so it would be prudent not to blow the margins.And there, surprise, out of around thirty points of sale, the cheapest price recorded is €1.95, and the most expensive is €6.95. I’ll let you do the calculation for the percentage… The taste for the price doesn’t is not the same here or there!You will undoubtedly use the geographical area as an excuse! Is thyme more expensive in the city than in the countryside, in Paris than in the Province?The price of €1.95 was raised in a town in the south-west of 25,000 inhabitants. And the most expensive price, in a town in eastern France with 30,000 inhabitants…

Bonial survey

For those who like to compare distribution prices, the site www.bonial.fr  is perfect, it allows you to precisely measure the taste for price with the reading of the leaflets released by the distributors. An ideal tool for finding your bearings without having to move around too much!The Bonial site offers a survey in partnership with OpinionWay to analyze consumer expectations in relation to prices.First concerning purchasing power. 42% of consumers say they are worried and 13% are satisfied. By adding up the different feelings, 30% are positive and 70% negative.Going a little further in this survey, consumers respond about changes to their purchasing habits in the coming weeks.35% pay closer attention to the prices charged. 32% will search for promotions with a little more precision…This should alert our distributor friends. The debate often revolves around the merits of the promotion. “If I do too much promotion, I will come across as a seller, we are a quality point of sale…”.Certainly, but one does not prevent the other! Promotion is a form of communication and it must be mastered. It’s the little grain of salt that can make all the difference. Too much salt is inedible. No salt, is a diet a little too strict? Once again, the taste for the price is nothing other than a clever mix…

Some pleasure !

We end up with a good grade. Garden purchases are not essential, they are linked to pleasure. And this spring, we all want to treat ourselves with perfume, flowers and vegetables. Plants and their accessories come at the right time to give a little pleasure to our environment.The price is a constraint that can slow down this access to pleasure. When there are financial choices to make, priority goes to basic needs. Our role as a garden distributor is of course to promote this dream of pleasure with Wow effects, plants that make you want it, but also prices that make you feel better.For a prudent consumer, promotion is also a way of enjoying a pleasure without feeling guilty about this purchase.The psychology of pricing is an important factor. Promotion allows, in certain cases, to remove the guilt.The taste of the price can become sweet if the product is attractive. The essential welcome and the quality image of the point of sale are not everything. The price image is a tool at our disposal, it is up to us to use it at the right time and wisely!

Roland Motte… Gardener!