Less traditional categories see biggest increases in sales in 2015

We’ve announced that clothing and catering were among the categories with the biggest increase in sales during last year (2015) at garden centres across the country according to our Barometer of Trade (BoT) report.

                     

Food hall and farm shop sales also saw sales increase more than traditional categories such as outdoor plants.

 
Clothing saw the biggest increase in sales in the year with sales 15.81% up compared to 2014. It proves beyond doubt that garden centres are increasingly becoming destinations where people can pick up everything they need all in one go.

They’re also great places for families to visit and the improvement of restaurants and cafés has led to an increase in catering sales of 9.93%. With all the products they need, garden centres have become somewhere a family can visit and make a day out of. They can also stop for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Food hall and farm shop sales were up 14.05% compared to 2014. Furniture and barbecue sales reached a height of 9.95%.

While it is great to see less traditional categories doing well, it is the more traditional categories that are of the greatest value to garden centres and it is encouraging to see that these, more mature, core categories are increasing too. Outdoor plants saw an increase of 7.8%, houseplant sales were up 6.84% and seed and bulb sales were down -0.42%.

Pets and aquatics sales were 3.48% up compared to 2014 while Christmas sales were up 8.72% and gifts up 4%. Hard landscaping was up 3.94%.

Overall it was a fantastic year for garden centres and we’d like to congratulate of our members for their continuous hard work and dedication, here’s to a brilliant 2016.