GCA November BoT Results are in ! The Garden Centre Association (GCA) has released its Barometer of Trade (BoT) report for November 2023, revealing that catering emerged as the top-performing category among member garden centres.
Despite challenging weather conditions, GCA members reported encouraging sales figures for November, with an average turnover increase of 5.36% compared to the same period in 2022. The data underscores a positive trend of customers frequenting restaurants and food halls, signaling a potential strong performance for December.
Chief Executive of the GCA, Peter Burks says: “Sales were once again very encouraging for our GCA members in November with an average turnover increase of 5.36%, compared to November 2022, in a month where the weather was really most unpleasant. The trend for customers coming in for the restaurants and food halls continued in November, suggesting we are on course for a strong December.”
Key Highlights from the November BoT Report:
- Catering: Led the categories with an impressive +16.83% growth.
- Furniture & BBQs: Followed closely with a +12.02% increase.
- Food Hall/Farm Shop: Recorded a robust +11.58% growth.
- Pet & Aquatics: Showed a healthy +10.1% uptick.
- Clothing, Gifts, and Christmas: Posted positive growth figures of +8.39%, +5.19%, and +2.62%, respectively.
- Hard Landscaping: Performed well with a +2.42% increase.
- Garden Sundries and Outdoor Plants: Registered growth at +1.82% and +1.28%, respectively.
However, sales of houseplants experienced a slight dip at -0.33%, and seeds and bulbs saw a decrease of -2.39%.
The GCA BoT reports, based on actual sales figures, serve as a valuable tool for member garden centres to assess their trading positions, fostering benchmarking and industry insights.
The GCA, representing over 200 garden centres nationwide, is dedicated to promoting high standards in customer service, plant quality, and reliability within the industry.
For more information, visit www.gca.org.uk.