Price quality

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The value for money is not always easy to manage. Do we need more quality or more price? In this difficult period for everyone’s wallet, the price is important, but at what price… How far do we have to go to seduce the consumer?

Price quality?

We can discuss it for ages… Everyone sees noon at their doorstep. Value for money tends to move towards price when inflation rises. In food, the peak in prices could be in June 2023. The shopping cart will be increasingly light in weight and the receipt will be heavier. For us in the garden market, we have advocated quality more and our manufacturers are seeking to offer us innovations to make life easier for consumers. This requirement has a price, and the price, at the moment, is looking to go down. We saw it during the Collections Days a few days ago, in Marseille, the atmosphere was not necessarily good on the stands. Despite the quality of the presentations, the efforts made by exhibitors to find new product leads, the order forecasts are not exceptional for this spring. Distributors are concerned about the reluctance of their customers, and the price is at the center of conversations. Private label can help preserve margins, but in the long term, how to keep some money for Research & Development. R & D would make it possible to maintain quality, but you still have to have the means…

In the garden

In our garden market businesses, we are not really used to promoting promotions. During the sales period, while clothing or furniture offers -50 or -70%, garden centers often advertise a good -10% in the decoration department… So, yes, “we are not the same”… Nevertheless, the price image takes a hit!And as the message of education is difficult to convey with garden-related products, general distributors attack us on the price by letting us manage the quality. Here, an insoluble or almost insoluble example, the compost. At the moment, we find the 40 liter bag from 2 to 20 euros and more. For the professional, we know the difference with water retention, pH, resistivity, conductivity… But for the amateur gardener, it’s expensive for soil… And we hear this consumer on the shelves explaining that this n It’s not important because he’s not a professional and just wants to grow his shrubs. A first price soil will therefore suffice! It is all the more difficult to understand since private labels are between the two, between 5 and 10 euros, with the commitment of the brand. So why potting soil at 20 euros? Not easy to understand from his point of view!

Same for seeds

One could say that this comparison also applies to food products, between good bread that is a little more expensive, and industrial bread that is a little doughy… but less expensive. Well no, there, the consumer has the explanation, at least by the texture and the taste. For soil, the benchmark is a little more complicated…!Looking for other prices, I lingered on the seeds of the Marmande tomato. You can find the package between 1.50 and 5.10 euros. But here too, it is difficult to compare since the packaging is slightly different. Between the grams and the number of seeds, the comparison becomes complex. Well, don’t worry, you can also find free seeds in barters. And still from Marmande.Once again, the professional will find his little ones, but the amateur gardener, even the beginner, for him, it’s the jungle…No need to put a layer on the tomato plants… we are going to have heavy differences to manage.The only problem is that when we don’t understand anything about the technique, like our garden consumer, we look for another way of comparison, and it is of course, the price that becomes the reference.

Value for money…

When the situation is normal, without price pressure and the fear of not finishing the month, the consumer trusts his brand and his salesperson. He accepts a higher price if the guarantee, longevity or quality are there.This spring of 2023 marks a real change. And we wonder how the national brands will be able to justify their added values. The temptation is great for distributors to offer entry-level prices and private labels, dropping manufacturers’ brands considered top-of-the-range, and therefore… Too expensive.As Decathlon knows how to do, will the garden brands develop, in the near future, an innovation service to feed the brand brand?If the volume of private labels stings the volume of national brands, we can ask ourselves the question. Especially since with reduced room for maneuver, the R&D departments of our historical manufacturers will start to save money and devote less time to the development of new products.Tensions to follow…!

Roland Motte… Gardener!