Consumers flocking to the Internet for in-store information

I recently attended the Search Engines Strategies Conference in Chicago and learned a ton.

One of the take-aways was the fact that consumers are increasing the number of searches they are doing at the rate of 17% a month.

One gentleman said that their web site had an 84% increase in product quieries on Black Friday over the same day last year.

In store transactions makes up 95% of retail sales (eCommerce is only 5 percent), and that number is holding steady.

This has huge implications for your lawn and garden business:

~ Is a garden center / nursery web site able to give the user the product information they are looking for? Or will the user have to search for the brand, only to be lead away to a store locator (possibly a dead end)?

~ Does the garden center / nursery have a means to communicate in a timely manner about the product or service they are looking for?

~ Does the garden center / nursery have a mechanism in place to take the online order and have it picked up in the store?

The answer needs to be yes to all the questions above in order to provide a satisfactory experience to that customer.

Garden Centers and Nursereis that do not embrace the new shopping paradigm will be struggling with one arm tied behind their backs.

What are you waitning for?

Steve