Making the Choice between Rewholesalers and Other Nursery Market Channels

Abstract

Alternative market channels that include garden centers, landscapers, mass merchandisers, and rewholesalers have contributed to the growth of ornamental crops sales in the United States. Knowledge about growers' use of these channels is indispensable for the development of appropriate strategies to achieve goals. This study estimated the impacts of growers' business characteristics on market channel choice by firm size. The explanatory variables were evaluated separately but were grouped by regions of the United States, kind of plant, kind of contract sales, and promotion behavior. Growers' location had limited effect on channel choice when compared with growers in the south. Growers with a more diversified marketing strategy were associated with higher likelihood of using the mass merchandiser and garden center channels. Trade show attendance had a strong negative impact on choice to the mass merchandiser compared with the rewholesaler channel. Generally, there appeared to be differences in the groups of variables that were related to channel choice. By channel, plant groups were important in explaining the mass merchandiser and landscaper channels, and the contracts group affected the garden center choice. By size, the contracts variables impacted the mass merchandiser channel, plant groups variables impacted the garden center channel, and promotions variables impacted the landscaper channel.