Gardening sites dig for gold in the U.K.

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April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 10:22 a.m. EDT (1422 GMT)

by Lisa Khoo

(IDG) -- Britain's genteel gardens have become an e-commerce battleground this spring as several gardening supersites enter a field already bursting with some 130 smaller dot-coms. They will compete in one of the U.K.'s potentially most fertile e-commerce areas: the $4.8 billion-a-year gardening business.

Two newcomers -- Greenfingers.com and Crocus.co.uk -- have the financial backing, networks and expertise to become leading sites, but different strategies for attracting the 38 million garden enthusiasts in the United Kingdom.

"We see content as our foremost competitive advantage," says Jonathan Cowan, marketing director of Greenfingers, which is set to go live in May. Founded by gardening writer George Plumptre, the company has just finished its first round of funding, raising $8.4 million from a consortium of European investors.

The Greenfingers site plans to feature horticulture how-tos and resources, such as a searchable database of gardening topics. Cowan hopes that after the content hooks readers, they will buy the discounted plants and products from suppliers that have partnered with the site.

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The company faces stiff competition from startup Crocus, which went live in early April. Crocus is backed by some big U.K. names, including incubator New Media Spark and Lord Jacob Rothschild.

Crocus founder Mike Fane also heads landscape maintenance company Waterers, which logs $25.5 million in annual sales. Waterers' staff of 450 and network of suppliers will be available to Crocus.

While the Crocus site will publish gardening advice, its main selling point is its extensive stock -- more than 8,000 plants and products -- and its fleet of delivery vans. Fane boasts that his delivery system will ensure that products arrive on time and in good condition.

"Our strength is our quality of service," he says. "We want to make sure the customer is comfortable with the quality of supply." The company will also e-mail its subscribers product information and gardening newsletters.

Both companies see European expansion as the next hurdle. Greenfingers is counting on its investors on the Continent to provide sufficient funding for the expansion; Crocus plans to finalize its strategy within a year.

Meanwhile, E-garden, which launched in September, is beefing up its staff and content to meet the challenge from newer rivals. The site plans to cover every segment of the gardening market.

"We're about breadth," says CEO Brian Vass. "People want different content and product mixes."

E-garden recently signed a team of gardening experts and has deals with more than 50 suppliers. As a result of business brought in by its Valentine's Day and Christmas marketing campaigns, E-garden reduced its suppliers' delivery times from five to two days -- and for now has a solid customer base.

As gardening startups continue to flourish, many established brick-and-mortar nurseries are finding themselves playing catch-up. Retailer Country Gardens plans to protect its profits -- $12 million last year -- by adding e-commerce to its site later this year.

All of these sites have a common problem: a consumer base that has been slow to get on the Web. Even as Internet access grows in the U.K. -- from 15.7 million people in 1999 to 21.6 million by 2001, according to Fletcher Research -- e-commerce success may take time. What's clear is that every business thinks it will have to give it a try.

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Study: U.K. e-tailers to squeeze non-Web retailers
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U.K. to offer tax relief for e-commerce
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Report: Net costs U.K. 10 billion pounds in taxes
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You may have a green thumb, but does your computer? Find out about landscaping, growth, and other gardening software
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Container gardening For Dummies
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Greenfingers.com

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