Pricing Strategy for Garden Centers: a price role for each universe
The pricing strategy for garden centers involves assigning each section of the store a distinct pricing role—traffic, margin, or image—and then setting each price based on that role and on the competitor against whom the customer is comparing it. The same margin logic applies across the board: underpricing the garden supplies section and overpricing the pet supplies section.
The produce section is guided by the condition of the items and showcases the product; the pet section relies on a few closely compared items; the regional foods section sets the margin; and the well-stocked garden section aligns only with products that are truly comparable. Before delisting a product, testing a price reduction helps determine whether a product is unnecessary or simply mispriced.
Plants, pet supplies, gourmet foods, tools, furniture: a garden center sells a wide variety of products—from perishable living plants to the bag of pet food bought every month—all under one roof.
This article is intended for sales, pricing, and category management teams at garden centers and pet stores, both chain and independent.
It explains why each market requires a different pricing strategy, and what the cost is of applying the same margin logic across the board.
Pricing Strategy in Garden Centers: What Are We Talking About?
The pricing strategy for garden centers involves assigning a distinct pricing role to each section of the store—plants, pet supplies, local products, and gardening tools—and then setting each price based on that role and on the competitor against whom the customer is comparing it.
A garden center isn't just one store—it's four stores under one roof. Each section has its own customer base, purchase frequency, and main competitor.
In fact, the pet industry is larger than the plant industry. In 2023, retail sales of pets and pet food totaled 5.5 billion euros in France, compared with 5.0 billion euros for flowers, plants, and fertilizers, according to INSEE.
Our professional opinion:Applying the same markup logic to the entire garden center results in underpricing produce and overpricing pet supplies. We lose profit margins where customers don’t compare prices, and we lose customers where they do.
Our guide to pricing by retail sector classifies garden centers as subject to seasonality. While this is true for gardening, the most costly day-to-day challenge remains this mix of business lines.
Why a single " Markup " is expensive at a garden center
Many garden centers still set their prices using a family-based multiplier, a practice inherited from the past. It's simple, easy for stores to understand, and almost always inaccurate when applied to the entire store.
The Barbotteau Group, which uses Booper to manage pricing for four retail chains—including a garden center—had been applying a single “ Markup ” to the entire store prior to this project. This is a common starting point in the industry.
A high gross margin that pays for the care of living things
On paper, however, the sector generates a comfortable profit margin. The problem lies elsewhere: what it needs to finance.
This represents the share of sales for garden centers, pet stores, and specialty flor Markup in 2023, compared with 38.2% for the specialized non-food retail sector as a whole.
(INSEE, INSEE Focus No. 379, “Activity at florists, garden centers, and pet stores has stagnated since 2023,” April 2026)
According to the same study, labor costs account for 81.3% of the sector’s value added. Watering, repotting, advising customers, and sorting out damaged plants: it’s a labor-intensive business.
Our take:A garden center’s gross margin isn’t a cushion—it’s the cost of the service. Every percentage point of margin given up for no good reason on a product that isn’t often compared directly impacts the bottom line.
Traffic, Margin, Image: Three Pricing Roles Under One Roof
Certain products attract customers: bags of dog food, potting soil, and a few seasonal plants. They serve to drive traffic and are positioned closely against the leading competitor.
Others make their profit because customers don't know how to compare prices. These are the true prices of shelf-filler items: accessories, small decorative items, gourmet foods, and rare plants.
Still others focus on the image: the quality of the produce, expert advice, and local products. Their prices must be fair, not necessarily low. The same factor cannot fulfill all three roles at once.
The Price of a Plant: A Living Product That Either Stands Out or Gets Lost in the Crowd
Plants are the only items in the store whose value changes every day on the shelves. A plant in bloom sells for full price, but the same plant once it has finished blooming or has turned yellow no longer sells at all.
The price of a plant is therefore determined primarily by its condition, not by a catalog. The real issue isn't the starting price; it's the point at which you're willing to sacrifice some profit margin to avoid losing everything to breakage.
A late price reduction on live plants costs twice as much: the discount itself, and then the plant that has to be thrown away because no one bought it. The detection process is similar to that for end-of-line items and dormant inventory, with a timeframe of a few days.
The seasonal calendar and the impact of weather on sales are discussed in our article on pricing in the home improvement and gardening sectors in light of seasonality. Here, we’ll focus on the role of plants in pricing strategy.
Plants have a greater impact than traffic
When it comes to plants, customers rarely compare prices across different stores. Instead, they compare freshness, pot size, and the plant’s overall condition. A scrawny, cheap plant damages the store’s image more than a beautiful plant that’s a little more expensive.
Our position:A few seasonal featured plants deserve a competitive price, while the rest of our plants stand out on the strength of their quality. Lowering prices across the entire section to compete with big-box stores amounts to selling off at a discount what truly sets us apart.
Pet Store Prices: A Recurring Purchase Compared to Specialty Stores and Online Retailers
The pet store operates on the opposite principle from a grocery store. Customers return every time they finish a bag, year after year, and they know the price of their dog food down to the cent.
A dog owner spends an average of €517 per year on dog food, compared to €339 for a cat: a recurring purchase whose price is known to the customer.
(FACCO, 2026 Annual Report (FACCO-Odoxa Barometer), June 2026)
This customer spreads their purchases across several channels. According to the same survey, 51% of dog owners buy their pet food at supermarkets, 34% at pet stores, and 28% online.
Garden centers are therefore competing against hypermarkets, specialty pet stores, and online retailers. For the same brand and product, the price difference is apparent in just a few seconds.
Maintain the standards by which the brand is judged
The classic pitfall is applying the "garden" discount to pet supplies. The customer pays once, compares prices online, and then goes elsewhere to buy their next bags. The loss isn't just one sale—it's a repeat customer.
Our belief:A handful of pet food products set the price benchmark for the entire aisle. These are the “KVI” of the pet store: large-size packages of the best-selling brands, priced per kilogram.
These products maintain a limited gap compared to key competitors. The rest of the aisle—accessories, hygiene products, and small pets—can drive the margin. Knowing which products to monitor in relation to competitors helps avoid treating everything equally.
Be aware of the legal framework: Like human food, pet food is subject to the “no-loss resale” threshold plus 10% and the 34% promotional cap, both of which have been extended through April 2028.
A subscription discount or a cash-back offer on pet food must therefore remain within these limits, as explained in our article on the threshold for selling at a loss and Egalim promotions.
Local Products and Fine Foods Section: A Shopping Experience Like No Other
The local specialties section is the most underrated category when it comes to pricing. Artisanal jam, local honey, terrines, gift sets: customers buy these items to treat themselves or as gifts, and rarely shop around.
Many of these products are unique and cannot be found anywhere else. There are no competing prices to consider, only a psychological price that the customer considers acceptable for a gift or a specialty item.
Pricing this section using the “conservative” garden factor means leaving profit on the table without gaining a single customer. Local produce is the best candidate for generating the store’s profit margin.
A product line organized by price tiers
The terroir lends itself well to a tiered product line: an entry-level product, a signature product, and a premium gift set. Price segmentation through a vertical pricing structure prevents these tiers from cannibalizing each other.
There are two additional considerations to take into account. Food products are subject to the same rules regarding sales below cost and promotions as pet supplies, and two VAT rates often coexist on the same shelf—between groceries and alcoholic beverages.
Garden Tools and Furniture: A Head-to-Head Comparison with Big-Box Home Improvement Stores
In the garden supplies section, garden centers compete with large home improvement stores. Pruning shears, lawn mowers, irrigation systems, grills, and patio furniture: customers compare products—often on their phones—right there in the aisle.
Here, comparability depends on the brand. A name-brand lawn mower can be compared down to the last cent. A private-label garden set can be compared to a similar product, but never to an identical one.
That is the purpose of product matching: to link a product to its true equivalent at a competitor, even when the product names differ. Without it, the price index would be comparing products that are not similar.
Our position:In the garden supply sector, only truly comparable products deserve to be compared side by side. For everything else, the difference is justified by advice, service, and selection—provided that it is measured rather than assumed.
Reducing the product lineup based on price: Test a price reduction before discontinuing a product
A garden center accumulates inventory from season to season. New items are constantly added, few products are discontinued, and cash flow is tied up in thousands of items that are sold only a few times a year.
This pattern is consistent across different retail chains. In an analysis conducted for a home and garden chain with 90 stores, 10% of the products accounted for 80% of the chain’s total sales.
To understand the actual contribution of each SKU, you need a reliable metric.The sales index used in category management reveals what really matters, beyond the impression a product makes on the shelf.
Pricing as a Test Before Release
Before discontinuing a product, one question remains: Is it not selling well because it's useless, or because it's priced incorrectly? Only a test can provide an honest answer.
This is the Barbotteau Group’s approach to its garden center: first test a price reduction, observe the impact on sales, and then make a decision. The stated goal—which is still underway—is to reduce the number of SKUs from 20,000 to 12,000 and free up 200 k€ in cash flow.
A test like this must be conducted on a limited scale and compared to a benchmark; otherwise, it proves nothing. Our article on how to test your prices without losing customers outlines the conditions for doing so.
Managing the garden center by section
Plant products, pet supplies, regional specialties, and gardening supplies: each category has its own pricing strategy, key competitor, and specific margin risk. The table below summarizes these.
| Universe | Dominant Price Role | Benchmark Competitor | Primary Margin Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant-based | Image, with a few close-up markers | Nearby garden centers and big-box stores | Late markdown followed by damage to the live product |
| Pet Store | Traffic on Food Listings | Specialty pet stores, hypermarkets, online retailers | A repeat customer lost due to a discrepancy |
| Local Produce and Delicatessen | Profit Margin on a Whim Purchase | Few comparable direct competitors | Margin reduced by a conservative factor |
| Tools and Furniture | Traffic for Major Brands | Large home improvement stores and online retailers | Adjustment for non-comparable products |
A sound pricing strategy begins with a quantitative analysis: where the store is overpriced compared to key competitors, where it has room to improve, and which products no longer have a place in the lineup.
That is the purpose of our price diagnostic : a measured assessment of your sales history, weighted by your volumes, segment by segment. It precedes any decision regarding tools or pricing grids.
The clients we work with, across all industries, see their margins increase by 0.5 to 3 percentage points within a few months. The challenges specific to the industry and our dedicated solutions are presented on our garden center pricing page.
Would you like to assign a price range to each section of your garden center?
Our experts work with you to assess your pricing strategy category by category, based on your sales history, and identify where you’re leaving room for improvement and where you’re losing customers.
Let's discuss your garden center pricesSee also in this feature
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FAQ: Pricing Strategy for Garden Centers
By first assigning a price role to each category—traffic, margin, or brand image—before setting any coefficients.
Plant stores, pet stores, local specialty shops, and garden supply stores do not share the same customer base, the same purchase frequency, or the same primary competitor.
Each price is then set based on this role and on the competitor the customer is actually comparing it to. A single price coefficient for the entire store reduces profit margins on products that are rarely compared and drives customers away from products that are frequently compared.
According to INSEE, the market s Markup of garden centers, pet stores, and specialty florists reached 44.8% in 2023.
This is higher than the average for the specialized non-food retail sector, which stands at 38.2 percent. However, this gross margin supports a labor-intensive industry: personnel costs account for 81.3 percent of the sector’s value added.
Every margin point given up unnecessarily on a product that is rarely compared therefore has a direct impact on earnings.
Not across the entire aisle. Only the products that reflect on the store's reputation deserve to be priced closely in line with online retailers.
It is primarily the large-size packages of the best-selling brands that customers compare based on price per kilogram. For these few products, a price difference that is too wide results in the loss of a repeat customer—not just a single sale.
Accessories, hygiene products, and small animals are compared much less frequently and can boost the department's profit margin.
By focusing on the plant's condition and its role in creating a certain image, rather than following the supermarket's entire aisle.
Customers rarely compare the price of a plant from one store to another. Instead, they compare its freshness, the size of the pot, and how well it looks.
A few seasonal featured plants are worth a tight price. As for the rest, the real decision comes down to the timing of the markdown: if it’s too late, the discount just adds to the waste of unsold live plants.
By treating the "terroir" section as a high-margin section, organized into tiered product lines, rather than using the conservative "garden" multiplier.
These products are often one-of-a-kind and purchased as a treat for oneself or as a gift: customers rarely compare options. The product line consists of an entry-level product, a signature product, and a premium gift set.
You must also factor in the increased threshold for selling at a loss, the 34% promotional cap, and the two VAT rates for that department.
By measuring the actual contribution of each product, and then testing a price reduction before discontinuing it.
A product may not sell well because it is useless, or simply because it is priced incorrectly. Only a test conducted on a limited scale, compared against a benchmark, can settle the matter.
This is the approach the Barbotteau Group is taking with its garden center, with a current goal of reducing the number of SKUs from 20,000 to 12,000 and freeing up 200 k€ in cash.
Software capable of applying different pricing rules by product category and by store, and of simulating each decision before implementing it.
He must track competitors specific to each category, both online and in-store; group comparable products using product matching; manage markdowns on produce; and measure the contribution of each SKU.
It must also comply with the legal framework governing animal feed and local produce. Booper's clients see their profit margins increase by 0.5 to 3 points within a few months, across all sectors.
In the toy industry, Black Friday kicks off the Christmas shopping season, which accounts for more than a third of annual sales. With the 30-day rule, its price becomes the benchmark for nearly all December promotions.
The discount applies only to the toys being compared, not to licensed products or this year's new releases. Baby care—a thoughtful purchase driven by the timing of births—calls for moderate discounts.
In the high-tech sector, Black Friday accounts for a major portion of annual sales and takes place two months after the back-to-school product launches. It is intended to clear out the previous generation of products rather than to sell off the new ones at a discount.
Refurbished products set a ceiling on the price of new items, and some prices are rising due to the cost of components. The advertised discount is always calculated based on the lowest price over the past 30 days.
When it comes to home appliances, Black Friday success depends more on the selection of models than on the size of the discounts. An 8% price reduction may require a 50% increase in sales to maintain the same profit margin.
It's best to act quickly on the models that are actually being compared, maintain the prices of exclusive models, focus on delivery, installation, and trade-ins, and prepare the 30-day policy starting in October.