Greetings card sales in garden centres have grown in relevance and volume recently, enhanced by the safe and secure shopping environment provided by garden centres. Analysis of Epos data provided to GTN Bestsellers indicates that greetings card volumes have grown by 40% since 2017 and by 31% from 2019 to 2021. With the growing importance of the sector as a factor of increased customer satisfaction, making the best decisions for supply, merchandising and management of greetings cards to maximise the opportunity is key.
Burleydam and Rosebourne garden centres have recently moved their card buying and merchandising to Woodmansterne’s W-Select service. GTN Xtra has been getting the story behind their success.
Rosebourne – a fresh approach to greeting card buying
Rosebourne provides a unique lifestyle shopping and dining experience all under one roof at its three centres. Their gift and leisure departments provide plenty of inspiration for home & garden enjoyment and finding that special present.
Buying Director, Stuart Whalley explains why they moved to W-Select: “We decided to move to W-Select for several reasons, including reducing our impact on the environment.
“With all the cards being recyclable and both plastic and glitter-free the move makes perfect sense. Not only is the removal of the plastic sleeve a very visible and positive environmental change it also allows customers to see the quality of the cards.
“We also wanted to simplify the ordering and administrative process, therefore ensuring shelf availability which increases both sales and stock turn.
“We recently moved our houseplant department to sit alongside the cards and stationery and this works very well from a gifting perspective.
“From initial discussions to the final range selection process was relatively easy and straightforward. Implementation in centres was smooth and easy to manage leading to a fabulous end result.
“Customer and colleague feedback has been extremely positive, with sales ahead of projection from the off.”
Rosebourne CEO, Carol Paris adds: “We are extremely happy with design, layout and content of our new card range. Sales are really encouraging and it is great to give our customers such a choice of different styles of card, without the use of unnecessary plastic sleeves.”
Woodmansterne is the perfect answer for Burleydam
Burleydam is a third generation, family-owned independent garden centre situated on the Wirral/Cheshire border. Following a major redevelopment several years ago, one of their challenges has been to encourage a younger customer without losing touch with their traditional, older clientele. Central to this has been the strengthening of their lifestyle & gift departments and the greeting card offer.
“Previously, we managed our card selection and purchasing in-house, which gradually became more time consuming and less cost effective” explained Sally Cornelissen. “We discovered Woodmansterne at Spring Fair and their brokerage system, where the top selling cards from many different publishers could be displayed in a cohesive range seemed like the perfect answer, and it is!
“Emma, our wonderful Woodmansterne sales representative visits regularly and replenishes best sellers, adjusts seasonal ranges, replaces any damages and tidies the stands. New lines are added periodically to keep our regular customers interested.
“In February, Mark offered us a complete refit with a choice of fixtures to complement our store décor and the results have been astonishing. Not only does the department look great but sales like for like with 2019 are 69% up to date. Obviously, this is partly due to lockdown on the high street but we have noticed a continuation of increased purchasing since April 12th. Customer browse time has increased and multiple purchases are noticeably higher.
“I would strongly recommend W-Select; they are a great company to work with and we feel like they are part of our team.“
Why Woodmansterne?
Woodmansterne are a third-generation family business supplying premium greeting cards to leading independent retailers, all designed and manufactured in the UK. They work with the very best of British talent including National Trust, Quentin Blake, RSPB, and Emma Bridgewater.
Woodmansterne pioneered the ‘Smart Seal’ in 2019, allowing them to remove plastic packaging from all their cards, saving a million pieces of throwaway plastic every week. Their cards are printed with vegetable inks on paper from sustainable forests and all their envelopes are made from 100% recycled post-consumer waste.
Why W-Select category management?
Woodmansterne have become experts in visual planning and category management, working with leading retailers in the UK, meaning they can offer the following services:
• A bespoke assortment tailored to your customers
• A unique caption calculator ensuring the optimum product mix
• An assortment of designs from the very best publishers
• Regular analysis and reporting
• Less admin, meaning more time for you and your team
Get in touch!
We would love to explore how we can help your business grow
Get in touch 01923 200 600 or sales@woodmansterne.co.uk
You can see more of what they do at woodmansterne.co.uk