Retailers could make better use of technology to educate consumers in-store, a European trade association chief told HTA Garden Futures Conference delegates.

Ronald van Veen, chairman of EFSA (the European Floral & Lifestyle Product Suppliers Association), whose members share data on design and lifestyle trends, said garden centres in the Netherlands were losing market share. “We are too slow in the garden business because things have changed so fast,” he said.

It was important to match trends information to stylish ideas and to use technology to present better information in stores, as demonstrated in EFSA’s 500 sq.m. concept store in Holland.  

“We think that if the store looks nice, it is enough,” he said. “But it is not.”

He believed retailers should see sustainability as an opportunity, not a threat.Te