Home & Garden Fulfillment launches e-commerce services for independent garden centers

Home & Garden Fulfillment has announced a new program designed to help retail garden center stores expand into e-commerce sales.

“E-commerce is a completely different business from ‘brick and mortar’ retail sales, so some independent garden centers (IGC) have been slow to take advantage of online selling,” says Jeff Dinslage, president of Home & Garden Fulfillment.

Home & Garden Fulfillment makes it possible for an IGC to have a fully operational online store that integrates into the store’s existing website and is consistent with the IGC’s existing brand. Customers who visit the e-commerce site can place orders for products that are available at the store and arrange for a convenient in-store pickup.

IGCs can also expand on what they can offer to its customers. By being tied into the Home & Garden Fulfillment network, it enables an IGC to also sell and profit from plants that are available via this national sales and distribution system. When an online customer buys a plant available from Home & Garden Fulfillment, that plant is shipped to the participating garden center for in-store pickup by the customer.

“The Home & Garden Fulfillment model for IGC e-commerce sales provides a unique way for independent garden centers to greatly increase the total number of plant material SKUs it sells without increasing the number of plants kept in inventory at the store,” Dinslage says. “It also brings customers to the retail store to pick up their orders, which gives the IGC staff an opportunity to provide customer service and suggest additional purchases of related products like fertilizer, mulch and other items.”

IGC stores can visit HGFulfillment.com or call 402-934-8116 ext. 205 to learn more about the IGC e-commerce program.