A Simple Way to Improve Customer Experience in UK Garden Centres

With their ever-expanding ranges and diverse catering outlets, it often seems as though garden centres are the new high street. They are the perfect retail destination to attract a wide variety of customers, not just the keen gardener.

But how can garden centres remain current and respond to new consumer behaviours? Have you thought of installing charging facilities in your centres? Wherever people are, their phones will go with them, constantly in use throughout the day. Providing wireless charging stations is an extra benefit that you can add to your list of services to ensure your customers can stay connected….and stay in-store.  

Crable Wireless Charging Shelves are the ideal solution to attract your customers and keep them happy. Here are some reasons why installing wall-mounted charging facilities brings benefits to your customers and therefore to your business.

Increased Dwell Time:

Gone are the days when people would put up with slow or even no wi-fi.  And increasingly, customers will now expect additional technical services such as phone charging points. Where people get a better service, they are likely to stay longer, perhaps some initial shopping, then a coffee and then more shopping - increasing dwell time.

Visiting a garden centre with all that it offers can be an enjoyable full day out – additional facilities such as wireless charging will increase the likelihood that customers will return, and spread the good news by word of mouth to friends and family that your premises are offering these added benefits.

Customer experience is key, and a more relaxing time can be had knowing that everyone is staying connected.

The Ideal Location for Charging Stations:

Your cafes and restaurants are the perfect departments to locate phone chargers. But where best to install them? Most F&B outlets will have specific areas that fill up first, the really popular spots. But what if your customers had a reason to fill up the least popular areas first? By locating wall-mounted charging shelves in these last to fill areas you are balancing the use of all areas within these high footfall spaces.    

Making better use of under-used areas in your store by strategic placement of your Crable Wireless Charging Shelves makes perfect sense. Crable recommends installing your charging shelf at a height of 1.1m from the floor. At this height, you will meet DDA compliance and also allow younger visitors to get a charge up.  

Designers of spaces within garden centres do have other options for the provision of device charging facilities. These include adapting existing tables to house wireless charging pads. Unfortunately, these require the hardwiring of power to each table or the use of a battery pack under the table that frequently requires recharging.

A further option would be the provision of charging lockers. While these provide a secure charge, they do require the user to leave their phone within the locker while they wait for a charge nearby or while they continue shopping/browsing around the centre. Invariably lockers do require the user to pay for the charge which negates the goodwill generated from the provision of a phone charging facility. A 'free charge’ from a Crable charging shelf generates enormous amounts of goodwill and brand warmth.

Specialist interior designers and architects will usually have access to a BIM (building information modelling) library and Crable’s charging shelves can be found in the UK’s largest two: bimstore and the NBS.  

Why Specify Crable Over Other Wireless Charging Solutions?

·     Wireless charging with Crable Wireless Charging Shelves is ‘fast charge’ dropping >1% battery power per minute on the latest phones.

·     Almost all new handsets available today have in-built wireless receivers and are able to wirelessly charge. Crables don’t just offer wireless charging – if some of your customers still have devices requiring cable charging, they can still use the USB ports and plug sockets provided within the shelves.

·     Crable charging shelves can charge up to eight appliances at once – no need to queue! Our most popular configuration has two wireless chargers up top and four plug sockets with two USB ports underneath.

·     We can manufacture Crables in any colour you choose within the RAL range so that they fit in well with your interior décor.

Concessions and Seasonal Stock:

Christmas shopping is always an enjoyable experience in garden centres, with all the extra gifts on offer and added entertainments put on by staff. But there’s no getting away from it – Christmas can be stressful at times. Discussing potential purchases with others back home and checking the internet for ideas is part and parcel of the experience but the frustration of losing a phone charge makes for a difficult time. Crable Wireless Charging Shelves installed in your garden centre will remove this unnecessary worry and ensure your customers can enjoy a more satisfying, stress-free time in the build-up to Christmas.

No doubt your café or restaurant will be serving seasonal produce too. If the customers popping to these vital areas of your store are given a reason to stay longer then they’re more likely to make spontaneous purchases like a mince pie or a hot cross bun to go with their cup of tea or coffee.

Topping up their phone provides just such a reason to make those off-the-cuff purchases.

Does Phone Charging Just Add to the Electricity Bill?

Most store operators and designers assume that the ongoing cost of providing phone charging services will be a burden on theirP&L. This isn’t the case when you consider that (on a typical 2023 commercial electricity contract) the cost of charging phones wirelessly for 100 hours can be as little as 50p/£0.50!

Most of your customers will be looking for a decent top up to their phone battery level. With ‘fast charge’ wireless chargers, 15 minutes of charging can provide up to 30% or 40% depending on their handset and their battery level at the starting point. The lower the battery power %, the quicker the phone charges is the general rule of thumb.

Therefore, with an average of four people an hour getting complete phone charge satisfaction, around 400 customers can be given a better in-store experience for a mere 50p of electricity!      

Environmental Credentials Assured:

Crables are Made in Britain and as such can be considered your local supplier. The wireless charging shelves can be made from recycled plastic and wherever possible recycled components are used too.  

Like you, Crable is dedicated to a sustainable future and where possible we source all our materials within the UK and keep all manufacturing here too.

Increased Brand Exposure:

Your charging stations should also be thought of as interactive advertising. Who wouldn’t feel a sub-conscious level of gratitude for a free charge when they need it? It therefore makes sense to add some branded advertising to your charging stations in the form of a simple logo, a call to action or even a QR code that can used for any number of promotional opportunities.

Crable uses pad printing on their charging shelves, meaning you can display logos, advertising, promotional messages, helpful hints – anything you would like to draw to the attention of your customers.  

When a QR code is featured on a Crable Wireless Charging Shelf, a straightforward yet effective means by which customers can access information is created. Promotion of loyalty programmes, special offers, charity support –you name it.  

Facilities like this help to increase brand warmth and are a positive addition on your sales floors. Being free to use, your customers will be reassured when visiting your stores, safe in the knowledge that they can top up their phones and stay in touch.

Crable has a strict non-data capture policy which means your customers have the added reassurance that their personal data is NOT being harvested.

Sponsorship Opportunities:

If you’re going to be promoting products and services on your charging stations within your high footfall areas, then why not seek support from a sponsor? Which of your suppliers is going to jump at the chance to brand your Crable charging shelves and benefit from all that extra promotion?

You should approach your main suppliers and ask them to supply the charging stations you want to have installed in your premises. This is a one-off cost to them that will give potentially many years of ongoing interactive advertising in really popular spaces within your store.  

Of course, your team will be responsible for maintaining the charging stations by keeping them clean and shiny but as Crables are part of the furniture this won’t take any longer than it does to wipe down a table within the coffee shop.  

Cleanliness, Safety, Security:

Crable Wireless Charging Shelves have been designed for easy cleaning and can withstand harsh detergents and robust use. In areas of high footfall it is important to maintain standards of cleanliness for both hygiene and visual presentation.  

Crable Wireless Charging Shelves are fixed to the wall making them virtually impossible to steal. The cable-free shelf is the perfect alternative to the trailing cables that we see in any public building. It is a fact that batteries will run out of charge and people will seek sockets or ask to borrow chargers.  Crable Wireless Charging Shelves eliminate trip and electrical hazards, making your retail area a safer and tidier space.

Crucially, Crables are UL94 V-0 rated – this means that the plastics are self-extinguishing within 10 seconds upon removal of the fire source.

Help make the garden centre experience a more complete day out for your customers by installing Crable Wireless Charging Shelves in your premises. Keeping families in touch as they explore the different areas, ensuring customers have access to all the information they need, and helping eliminate that all too familiar feeling - nomophobia:  the fear of being without a working mobile phone.

Get in contact with your local sales rep to discuss your charging station options at Crable.

You can order standard unbranded versions of our Crable charging shelves at amazon.