GCA reveals sales trends for February and March

Catering and gardening categories were the standout successes according to the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Barometer of Trade (BoT) report.

February

Sales in catering were up 15.8% compared to the same month in 2022. Outdoor plant sales were up 6.58%, seed and bulbs up 8.76% and garden sundries 6.31%.

GCA CEO, Peter Burks explains: “It was great to see customers out in good numbers and spending well in cafés and restaurants in February. It shows the value of having these sort of additional attractions to keep customers visiting all year round. Food hall and farm shop sales were also up 5.21%. February was a very dry month for the time of year, which could explain the positive sales in more traditional categories as gardeners made the most of the weather and made a start on their gardening jobs for the season.

“Furniture was one of the worst performing categories of the month with sales down -28.04%. Lots of centres had furniture marked down in January sales, so customers were able to pick up bargains then and sales have since slowed down, however, we haven’t had any weather to encourage sitting out in the garden yet, which is of course needed to prompt outdoor furniture sales. All in all, it has been an encouraging start to the year, given the general economic concerns everyone is facing.”

Pets and aquatics sales were down -8.81%, gift sales were down -2.99% and hard landscaping sales were down -21.26%. Clothing sales were down -6.65% and houseplant sales were down -8.88%.

Overall sales for the month were up 1.29% with a year-todate variance of -1.02%.

March

The wettest conditions for 40 years for much of the country failed to dampen sales for many. Catering sales were up 13.48% compared to March 2022 and food hall/farm shop sales were also buoyant at 10.73%.

Peter Burks, commented: “It’s great to see restaurants and farm shops/food halls doing so well, which gives me a lot of confidence that customers have not forgotten us during the traditionally quieter gardening months and are coming in to meet friends and family, to get out of the house, even with the threat of a downpour, and to buy their groceries or gift food items at our member garden centres.

“As is always the case when we get a wet month, gardening and outdoor product sales figures suffer. Outdoor plant sales were down -32.01%, seed and bulbs down -13.08% and garden sundries -31.82%.”

The GCA’s March BoT figures also showed, perhaps unsurprisingly, that furniture & BBQ sales were down by -57.95%.and hard landscaping sales by -42.59%. Pets and aquatics sales were down -5.17%, clothing sales -2.4% and gift sales -1.57%.

Overall sales for the month were down -21.42% with a yearto-date variance of -10.87%.

Peter adds: “Of course, we should also remember that the trading landscape was very different this time last year. Covid was still very much a looming presence and people were just emerging from another worrying period, so were keen to get out and about and were spending more at the same time.”

For further information, please visit www.gca.org.uk.