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One of the challenges facing all retailers during the second decade of the 21st century is how to successfully make the transition from the Baby Boomer shopper to her successor from Generation X.
Earl May, with locations in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas, has taken a bold step in the right direction by creating an online shopping outlet for the younger customer who thinks in much more virtual terms than does the average Boomer.
The e-commerce element of the Earl May site offers products in a variety of lines, many of which hit the bulls-eye with Gen X shoppers (kids' garden supplies, natural solutions, pet products). The rest of the e-inventory includes staple items most shoppers might find enticing, including apparel, books, garden seed, gift cards, lawn care, lawn seed, ponds and water gardening, wild birds, and yard and garden supplies. Just for grins, there's even a way to buy popcorn on the site.
What Earl May is doing isn't revolutionary, per se, as a number of garden centers have explored and implemented e-commerce projects. But you can bet the new generation of customers in the Midwest appreciates the fact that the garden center is reaching out to it. In this case, that appreciation sounds a lot like "Cha-ching!"
Looking for a Cha-ching! you might have missed? Go to the search box and type Cha-ching! Items are listed by date.