W H Watts

Nursery Today spoke to W H Watts & Sons owner Gary Watts to find out his thoughts on the year ahead as an independent nursery retailer.

retailer opinion

What are your hopes for 2023 as a business?

Our hopes for 2023 are continuing growth and some degree of sanity to return to pricing as margins are becoming a challenge at times.

Do you think your customers will be altering their buying habits during the continued cost of living crisis?

We haven’t really noticed that customers are changing habits and I think that what a customer wants a customer gets one way or another.

How has the cost-of-living crisis effected your own business, for example, the cost of running your store?

We have definitely had an increase in overheads since the start of the year. Utilities especially have increased dramatically.

Are your customers running research online prior to purchase and expecting larger discounts or pricematching from you?

Yes, they are on both counts, price matches are becoming more frequent which normally affects margin, which in turn negatively affects the business.

What do you feel will be your largest challenge this year?

There will be many challenges this year but the main one will be obtaining a reasonable level of profit as I have a feeling that difficult times for some will lead to more price cutting. Also, staffing is an issue as it seems that many people do not seem to want to work.

What type of support would you like to see your suppliers giving you throughout 2023?

Most of our suppliers are excellent and we do have some really good reps/agents but some suppliers could do with ensuring that all their retailers respect their brand and products.

Shop floor discounts would also help and in a few cases better after sales.

Do you feel there will be a particular nursery product category that will be trending this year, or perhaps a colourway, products with eco credentials, etc.?

Although there will be a growing focus on ECO products, I don’t think that much will change apart from a drift away from Grey.

How will you be utilising social media throughout 2023? Do you feel this will give your business a higher level of success to bring customer awareness and drive footfall or visits to your website?

We have been for quite a while and will continue to use social media throughout the year, it’s imperative for visibility especially with offers.

As a business, what would you say will be your main strategy for the year ahead?

We will focus on sustained growth, managing margin and containing overhead as best we can.

Do you have any exciting plans this year that you would like to share with Nursery Today readers?

We don’t have anything specific but will continue with the constant upgrading of the store and continue our search for affordable warehousing.