GrowNation (grownation.co.uk), last week announced partnerships with leading horticultural organisations to allow garden centres to begin selling online immediately through click & collect and local delivery services.
Steve Meleka, managing director told GTN Xtra: “We were thrilled to be asked by the HTA to offer our GrowNation web shops on their ‘essential suppliers’ directory. We’re looking forward to helping HTA members and others to quickly get online and take advantage of the unprecedented customer demand that we’re seeing all over the UK.”
Garden centres can now apply for their own free web shops - fully populated with detailed product information and images from suppliers including Farplants, Hozelock, Porters Fuchsias/Happy Plants, Bransford Webbs, New Leaf, Lovania, Quantil, Taylors Bulbs, SBM Life Science (Phostrogen/Baby Bio), Plantworks (Empathy/Rootgrow/After Plant), Fallen Fruits and Primus. Additional significant partnerships are at various stages and will be announced in due course.
He continued: “We’re really hoping for some good news from the government this weekend, finally allowing garden centres to get back to business and to restore some confidence and optimism throughout the supply chain.”
Growers and wholesalers have provided GrowNation with detailed product data, images and prices, allowing them to create fully featured web shops for garden centres - including each suppliers’ products - typically in less than an hour.
GrowNation charges no up-front fees, instead, the business model is completely commission based, with credit card and PayPal transaction fees absorbed by the company as part of the service. Retailers can get more information or claim their free website at: grownation.co.uk/sellplantsonline
Steve added: “The next few weeks are a crucial part of the year even in normal circumstances, but with social distancing measures in place, garden retailers may only reach up to 40% of their usual footfall.
"The interruption to cashflow caused by this will be significant, which is why we’re recommending click & collect as a solution to increase sales. Our platform allows customers to view and order products online before collecting them safely from the retailer’s car park. Vulnerable customers - and staff - will appreciate the additional safety this provides.”
All GrowNation websites are completely free to set up and include:
- The ability to list as many (or as few) products as each retailer wants.
- Secure online payments via PayPal or credit/debit card.
- A unique web address with its own unique storefront and product range.
- A simple to use retailer dashboard to help manage orders and customer details.
- Simple, commission based payment with no lock-in period and no up-front cost.
- No additional charges for online payment processing.
Wholesalers can request more information and provide their product data by visiting the GrowNation website at: grownation.co.uk/supply-garden-centres
GrowNation will take 10% commission on every website order to cover payment processing & maintenance fees. One fifth of this commission will be donated to the Perennial and Greenfingers charities for six months from 1st May 2020 to help fund their vital work.
The GrowNation (grownation.co.uk) platform is one of a series of marketplaces from ConnectNation Ltd, a company formed to help address some of the unique business challenges posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
ConnectNation was founded by a group of colleagues with specialisms in marketing (including in the horticulture sector), CRM platform design & integration, business analysis, social media management and ecommerce website development.
The company is currently working with the award-winning ecommerce platform and digital marketing company, Visualsoft. Their VSCommerce platform underpins the GrowNation service, making it possible to rapidly deploy websites to allow garden centres to start selling online quickly. See: www.visualsoft.co.uk