Val Gosset – Page 118

Drive Your Customers Online

Thanks to lower costs and fast turnaround, most websites contain many more products than a merchant can afford to include in a single catalog. So I was shocked to learn from a customer panel at the recent Mailorder Gardening Association conference that customers assume that most websites simply replicate catalog offerings.

Assuming you offer more products on your website than in your catalog, make sure your customers know it. Say “More plants at www.OurCompany.com” on every page of your catalog, include “More Plants Online” bursts in your catalog, or include lists of plants that can only be bought online.

Plan Now to Boost Year-End Sales

One of the best ways to close the year on an up note is by giving a push to gift sales. Since few gardening companies are in high season in December, it’s not an area that gets much attention. But with some creativity and preplanning, you may be able to solve problems for many shoppers […]

Website Security Lessons Learned the Hard Way

At the recent Mailorder Gardening Association conference, a representative from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, a well known and respected cataloger, shared their experience with a security breach and the steps they’ve taken to make sure it never happens again. It was chilling to learn how a company can be doing all the right things and still be compromised.

Brandi Moore of Ounce Labs, formerly of the AOL Operations Security Department, offered attendees advice on how to protect themselves from the same fate. Two takeaways:

1) Review the information available at the PCI Security Standards Council web site.

2) Make education of your employees a top priority. In the case of Johnny’s, the hacker used a valid user name and password to access credit card records. It’s believed that an employee unwittingly fell for a phishing scheme that allowed this to occur. According to Ms. Moore, well-meaning employees who fall for such tricks are the most common cause of security breaches.

Pet Peeves of Garden Catalog Customers

The Summer 2008 Mailorder Gardening Conference included an informative customer panel moderated by Kip Creel of Standpoint Marketing. The panel included 10 people from member companies’ house lists, and represented a wide range of gardening interests and expertise. Almost without exception, they expressed the same pet peeves with many garden catalogs.

“Show us what the plant looks like!” they cried. “Not just the bloom that appears for one week a year. We want to know what the whole plant will look like for the other 51 weeks of the year.”

They were even more adamant on the subject of shipping fees. All panelists said they looked at the total cost before deciding whether to order or where to order from. Burying shipping rates on the final page of checkout was considered an annoyance at best, and an attempt to obfuscate at worst.

What surprised me was the lack of weight the panelists gave to a strong guarantee. Personally, I consider guarantees a big plus for mail order nurseries. To our panelists, it was a small consideration when deciding where to buy.

How Consumers Read Catalogs

The recent Mailorder Gardening Association conference included an informative critique of several member catalogs by a panel of experts. Panelist George Hague of J. Schmid & Associates reminded us of the order in which readers view catalog elements. They are: 1. Images. These do the heavy lifting, so make sure yours are as clear and […]

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