Growing an Organic Fertilizer Business with an Omnichannel Approach
"Being inside the retail location made all the difference in the world. The ability to show our retail partners that they weren't alone in converting people to growing organically, plus providing the shelf space, combined to make us an easy choice to start carrying and selling."
An organic fertilizer company in Denver was attempting to scale larger than direct-to-end-user sales would permit.
In this industry, selling direct causes distributors to become uninterested, as they will have to compete for the same customer pool with a smaller margin.
A pivot to retail would be necessary to gain the favor of these distributors and facilitate rigor for them to pick up the product line.
In a hands-on industry like gardening, it's challenging to influence end-users without them seeing the results for themselves.
This typically takes some time, plus follow-thru with customers who aren't aware that a change should take place.
We couldn't position ourselves in every garden in Colorado, so we positioned the sales team inside our retail partner locations.
We hosted educational events and provided ready-to-use samples of the product, which would allow gardeners to see near-instant results.
This personalized attention grew the relationship with new retail partners, plus allowed the sales team to educate end-users as they were shopping.
To bring on new retail partners, we derisked their investment and square footage concerns by providing a 1' diameter rack on consignment.
We then committed to hosting these educational events in stores and garden centers, to ensure we could convert new end-users to our offering.
Because of the extremely high value proposition of their product, we were able to turn heads in a very short period of time.
We took an aggressive stance towards trade shows and industry events, hosting these same educational seminars at as many as we could.
After 6 months, the results were clear. They included:
- Over 100 new retail partners nationally carrying the product line (up from less than 5 prior)
- Dozens of new commercial customers buying the products on "sell-throughs" at these new retail partners
- A strong presence in the community garden scene of the greater Denver area
- A reputation at trade shows, industry events, and retail locations as authorities on the benefits of organic gardening
- Discussions with the largest distributors nationally regarding potential stocking orders with two commas in them (at locations like the Independent Garden Trade Show at Navy Pier)
"Being inside the retail location made all the difference in the world. The ability to show our retail partners that they weren't alone in converting people to growing organically, plus providing the shelf space, combined to make us an easy choice to start carrying and selling."
This organization did go on to get national distribution after our time together, but it took years of hard work from ownership and committment from their staff to accomplish it.
The relationships and reputation we built on the Denver gardening scene and national trade show presence were too strong to overlook.
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