RETAIL / 04
Honesty
LESSONS
PHOTO: LASSE KRISTENSEN FROM LEESER
Independent retail consultant, Liam Kelly explains why retailers need to be a little more honest if they want to build a sustainable plant sales business
T
here are those who say that honesty has no place in a successful business, especially one that deals with the public either in the act of selling or in the supply of information - the famous ‘white lie’ blurs the line between what’s really right and wrong. Increased competition and the need to get more revenue into the business seem to have made that buffer between stretching the truth and blatant falsehood practically invisible at times, especially in recent years. This has often been the case with retail gardening too, where the hardiness of plants, the effectiveness of chemicals and fertilisers or the fragrance of a certain rose might have been guesstimated or chanced. But a few occurrences this year have made me question whether retailers really care about the plants they sell, or keeping their customers gardening and buying for that matter, and whether we should be educating customers more instead of fooling them. Full of flower miniature roses used in planted containers in February? Hydrangeas in full bloom in March being sold on covered plant areas as hardy plants? Bone dry, recently lifted Buxus pyramids still sitting on a CC trolley and being purchased by customers who thought they were a bargain? These were all issues that I came across this year in various plant retailers, but not with my own clients where at least I could have voiced disapproval. The question is, are these acceptable practices for those
12
involved in the selling of plants? Or should we even care? Is it not just money into the till - supply and demand and all that - and let’s not worry about the rose that drops its leaves and buds, the blackened hydrangea that sits on a deck after one night of frost or the desiccated box plants that sit forlornly in pots at someone’s front door. ‘Buyer beware.' Right? I can appreciate that we now live in a throwaway society where it’s easier to replace than repair and there are plenty of retail chains willing to feed this false economy of disposable consumerism. So perhaps it’s OK that these plants die quickly and can be replaced easily? Surely that’s great for business, as the customer will have to return to buy more? People don’t really care about that these days, do they? Perhaps there was a time when these practices would have bothered me less but now I feel that selling a 'hardy' plant that's forced into flower three months ahead of its
“Having staff with just plant knowledge is not enough anymore. We need a more holistic way of teaching them so they can sell product from the business as a whole”
HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Summer 2017
