Strong kickoff for the gardening season – despite changeable weather

Switzerland loves getting its hands dirty. This April, Galaxus customers bought 34 per cent more gardening tools than in April 2023. And 37 per cent more other gardening products. From May 1 to 28, 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year, the increase is 15% (tools) and 32% (rest).

Ordering plants online has become particularly popular. Not least thanks to a growing range on the Galaxus marketplace. This year, plant lovers aren’t letting their balcony or patio plants go thirsty, it seems. Sales of lawn sprinklers, hose reels, garden hose nozzles and irrigation systems have shot up by over 80 per cent.

«The sunny and warm days in April have sparked a strong demand,» says Daniela Lüthard, the person in charge of the gardening range at Galaxus. The temporary ground frost then curbed sales again somewhat: «Some seedlings probably died during the cold nights.» Since then, things have been running like clockwork despite the rainy weather.

The first four months of the year saw gardening tool sales go up by 41 per cent, while sales of other gardening products increased by 35 per cent. This is the sharpest rise in demand since the pandemic in 2020, when many people discovered or rediscovered the joy of gardening during the lockdown. «Given the strong start to the season and the development we’ve seen in recent years, I’m expecting high growth for the whole year,» says Daniela. The strong sales are also fuelling the expansion of the product range.

Apart from rakes, pruning shears and spades, the garden tool range at Galaxus also includes motorised equipment such as chainsaws and robot lawnmowers. For the latter, there are now models available that no longer require a boundary wire thanks to GPS or AI. «Innovative companies are currently breaking into the robot lawnmower market,» Daniela explains.

Robot lawnmowers

−40%

Returned & Tested

CHF826.20 currently CHF1377.– new

Worx Robot mower Landroid Vision M600, 600 m², mowing area: 600

600 m²

1

Robot lawnmowers

CHF1099.–

Segway-Navimow i105E

500 m²

36

The gardening equipment business typically flourishes in spring. Around half of annual sales are generated in April, May and June. Avid gardeners typically stock up on gardening tools in May to prepare for the season and often wait until June to buy a new lawn sprinkler, a second composter or poison to fight the slug invasion.

The best-selling gardening products at Galaxus are those that are on display in our homes or on the balcony: flower pots. Forwarding companies also typically deliver pallets of soil to our customers’ doorsteps. «This is likely to be down to convenience. After all, those bags are quite unwieldy and heavy to carry,» says Daniela’s colleague Nicole Kälin. So it seems gardeners also enjoy having bulky thing delivered. «Plus the soil we sell is often cheaper than what you get at garden centres.» Insect traps also made the top three – think ant bait and sticky traps against fungus gnats.

Seeds have also been selling well but narrowly missed the top ranks. Galaxus customers are currently mainly buying lawn reseeding for brown patches left by the winter. And to make sure the grass is nice and green, orders often include fertiliser, too.

How has your gardening season started? Are you into growing your own food or are you more about aesthetics? What are you currently growing? Let us know in the comments!