End Notes

At many stores, end caps are prime real estate that provide quick turns for retailers. This is especially true at grocery outlets and big boxes. Independent garden centers, however, tend to struggle with creating compelling end-cap displays that encourage customers to buy.

Jeff Cooksey, buyer and merchandiser for Altum’s in Zionsville, Ind., will be the first to admit this. Upon being asked for advice on this topic, Cooksey decided to take a close look at his own store. “I walked out to our annual house, just to take a tour of our end caps, and I thought, ‘Holy cow! Are we ever going to be the sacrificial lamb!’ Our end caps are currently non-existent. Yes, there’s a stair-step at the end of the main bench. But it’s just more of what’s already on the main bench. No message, no inspirational story.”

Choose a story
Cooksey immediately saw a hands-on learning opportunity for the garden center’s staff. In his opinion, end-cap displays either need to be inspirational or functional. He offered two examples of how 6-inch pansies would lend themselves to either strategy.

• Inspirational. “For an inspirational end cap, I would assemble colorful pots to tie in with the pansies, with a finished container to show customers how their pots could look by making choices from the end cap,” Cooksey said. “Sort of like a kit. Here is the finished product, and these are all the components to make it yourself.”
• Functional. In a functional end cap, Cooksey would layer those same pansies with a start-and-grow-type fertilizer to show customers what they need to be successful with the plants.

“In both instances,” he said, “I do go by my own imposed rule of having one main product (the 6-inch pansies), one absolute need (either the colorful pots or the fertilizer) and carefully add one optional product when it’s appropriate.”

Three products—and no more than three—keep end caps sharp and focused, according to Cooksey.

“The trick is to stop traffic at your end caps,” he said. “People naturally tend to go or look where there is a crowd.”

A designer’s take
Rick Holberg, president of Holberg Designs and Green Branding (GardenCenterMakeover.com), agrees that three items on an end cap is ideal. 

Visually, odd numbers are more attractive to the human eye. So three or one item would be the “magic number” from that aspect.

“But every situation isdifferent,” Holberg said. “Physical size of each product obviously matters, as does the space allotted for the end cap.”

End caps offer the perfect cross-merchandising opportunity. Holberg suggested that merchandisers spend time thinking about the best combinations, and use those ideas to determine the number of items per end cap.

The price point of items on end caps is also something to think about.

“We feel that shoppers tend to look to end caps for specials,” Holberg said. “Higher priced items there could signify a higher price throughout the store. The same would be true of bargain-basement products. I’m not sure there’s a magic price point—and it would probably differ by location.”

Garden centers ought to experiment by offering a variety of price points on end caps and gauge customer response. But, Holberg cautioned, placement of the end cap and overall store flow will also affect sell-through.

The typical configuration of a plant yard also begs another question: Should there be an end cap display on each and every bench?

“Once again, each situation is different,” Holberg said. “If the store has the space and the end caps don’t impede traffic flow, why not make use of that space to sell products?”

Holberg said the key is to look at the overall symmetry of the store. If there are five aisles, you could end cap all five, or end cap every other aisle.

“But I wouldn’t end cap four and leave one blank,” he said. “That would probably look odd when the shopper views the aisle ends. Almost like something is missing.”