The Best Way to Buy Plants? Hybrid, of course
For better or worse, online shopping and in-person shopping alternate as the most preferred means of acquiring goods. In times of quarantine, many physical storefronts have darkened due to competitive online resources or because they have transitioned from physical to virtual storefronts. And yet, there are some companies operating in a hybrid fashion, channeling the future of shopping.
But is either option, tangible or virtual storefront, stand to benefit during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders? It’s time to leave binary purchasing options behind and learn the value of the amalgamation that offers an online infrastructure tied to a physical storefront.
How have our quarantine purchases helped to improve our housebound experience? In response to less outside activity, people are experiencing more technostress. As an alternative to outdoor activities, which also means possible COVID-19 exposure, people are bringing nature inside. Approximately 30% of households bought at least one houseplant last year, according to the 2019 Garden Trends Report.³
Which form of shopping — online, virtual, or hybrid — offers the best for our quarantine plant purchases? The local nursery, the online service that offers 2-day delivery, or the local group of plant lovers offering botanical exchanges?
Why shop virtually?
When purchasing a product from an e-commerce website, the buyer is guaranteed a degree of certainty.² You can enter an item name or description into a search bar, and have an almost immediate register of exact, or similar, products. The online inventory details product stock and can estimate delivery time.
Alternatively, you can get some steps in and visit the physical storefront. However, there is no guarantee the product you desire is in stock. Online-only companies, like The Sill, Bloomscape, or Urbanstems, offer a variety of houseplants that can’t be found locally due to climate. So, when you visit their virtual storefront you are assured a larger variety and provided estimated delivery times after purchasing an item that is assuredly in-stock. Visiting virtual stores ensures more efficient shopping.
Why shop physically?
For items that are more expensive online, items that require a near-perfect fit such as clothes and items that really need to be seen and used before purchase, online shopping may not be your best bet.¹ So you found the perfect plant, a fiddle leaf fig in its prime and just the right size for that corner space in your apartment, but shipping costs are outrageous because of the weight. Not to mention, they might not deliver to your location or offer reasonable return policies, if at all!
You have to weigh your options: pay an exorbitant amount for the perfect plant and risk it arriving damaged with costly return pricing, or visit a physical storefront. If you call in advance you can ask about the stock and save yourself time and money. You also run the risk that local stores don’t carry the plant you want.
However, if you’re buying a large item, it might benefit you to do a little in-store shopping to do some price comparisons. Who knows, you could end up finding the item you want much cheaper in the store!
Why not both?
What about the hybrid storefronts making the most of both worlds? Having an online infrastructure in advance of quarantine, or in accompaniment to a physical storefront, has given store owners a crucial lifeline that has kept them connected to their customers, and allowed them to remain in business.⁴
Most businesses realized a hybrid storefront operation entices customers who prefer one manner of shopping comparatively. Learning how to maximize their existing online tools, or to quickly add online services in order to keep selling during the crisis has allowed organizations to stay in operation, and even allowed some to excel.
The Sill, an online plant delivery service, has two stores in Manhattan and two under construction on the west coast. Yet, The Sill offers virtual potting demonstrations and gardening workshops for members, which partners memberships with incentives for online shopping. The Water & Light in Queens, New York, joins established sellers like Costa Farms in listing its plants on Amazon.³
¹Brown, Charis. “5 Times When It’s Better to Shop in-Store versus Online.” Clark Deals, 22 Mar. 2017, clark.com/shopping-retail/drawbacks-of-online-shopping/.
² Clawson, Trevor. “Online Shopping Is Killing Physical Stores — Can A Digital Platform Come To The Rescue?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 29 July 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/trevorclawson/2019/07/28/online-shopping-is-killing-physical-stores-can-a-digital-platform-come-to-the-rescue/.
³Pesce, Nicole Lyn. “Every Day Is National Houseplant Appreciation Day for These Millennials and Their #Plantbabies.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 13 Jan. 2019, www.marketwatch.com/story/millennials-are-treating-their-plants-like-children-2018-02-23-0881643.
⁴Verdon, Joan. “How Local Stores Are Moving to Selling Online.” Https://Www.uschamber.com/Co, US Chamber of Commerce, 23 Apr. 2020, www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/launch-pad/how-local-stores-are-moving-to-selling-online.
