In the plant market for hobby gardeners, the customer is a rather unknown entity. In the following short article we show what the problem is and how we at Lubera Edibles and Lubera know at least a little bit more after all...
BtoB is actually BtoBtoBtoC
The classic path of plants to the end consumer and hobby gardener is often mediated and rather complicated. From the point of view of a young plant company like Lubera Edibles, one could actually think that we would clearly sell BtoB, i.e. to other companies that produce ready-to-use plants. Of course, this is also true, but at the same time it is also quite off the mark: our young plants also end up with hobby gardeners...they are ultimately also our customers. We sell to producers of ready-made plants, who in turn sell to resellers such as garden centres, DIY stores and food retailers, whothen sell to hobby gardeners. The sales chain concerning Lubera Edibles could therefore be described as follows: B(usiness) to B to C(onsumer).
This is why we don't know what the end consumers really want
But because of this complicated chain, the flow of information forwards (product information, intended uses, tips), but also backwards (what do the end consumers really want?) is often interrupted and also distorted in many ways. The real existing offer to hobby gardeners is ultimately not continuous, but rather controlled by temporally changing supplier strategies: promotions, logistics, caution with the inventory from summer onwards, assortment compilations, etc. The result is that the product flow is not continuous, but rather controlled by temporally changing supplier strategies. It can happen very quickly that plants are not offered or are offered without taking into account the actual needs of the consumer.
And here’s why we know a little bit about what the end consumers really want
At lubera.com we sell a wide range of edible plants directly to the end consumer. The offer is continuous and not very controlled in comparison to the stationary retail trade (only a few cross-sectional promotions, week-end deals). This means that we can see directly and unfiltered in our figures what consumers really want.
Piucture: Information gap in the plant business
Advantage Lubera Edibles
Lubera Edibles can therefore evaluate sales numbers directly at its sister company lubera.com and thus gain additional and, above all, more precise insights into buying behaviour: What do the end customers really want to buy, and how should the assortments be composed to match demand as closely as possible... Lubera Edibles can then also use this knowledge in advising its customers, the plant producers. Ultimately, it is also important that the plant producers bring their additional knowledge into their discussions with the buyers of the retailers and garden centres.
