Rooted in Vermont and 100 percent employee-owned, Gardener’s Supply Company was founded in 1983 by a handful of Vermont gardeners. Today, the company serves millions of gardening enthusiasts nationwide, offering everything from seed starting supplies and garden furniture to flower supports and garden carts. Though the company has grown, they're main passionately committed to providing garden-based, earth-friendly products that help customers have more fun and success in their gardens.
When Gardener’s Supply’s contract renewal date with its email service provider was about to coincide with the ESP’s acquisition by a much larger company, it seemed to be the perfect season to begin looking at new vendors. The team at Gardener’s Supply shopped and eliminated a wide array of ESPs, before issuing an RFP to just five, including Listrak.
Gardener’s Supply ultimately selected Listrak, purchasing an extensive suite of retail solutions. When asked what differentiated Listrak from the other contenders, Gardener’s Supply's Director of Online Customer Marketing, Joe McHugh, explains, “One significant thing was speed to market for triggered and recurring campaigns and dynamic recommendations. It was also very important that Listrak had a Demandware Cartridge, because it allowed for a reduction in development time on our end.”
Speed was especially important to Gardener’s because the company was transitioning ESPs just in time for its peak selling season. The goal was to have integration completed a little more than three months from the date they signed with Listrak.
To meet Gardener’s Supply’s aggressive goal, Listrak developed a detailed project plan, backing into the target date and clearly outlining each deliverable on both the vendor and client side. To make sure the project remained on track, the Gardener’s team – which includes just one designer and one day-to-day email manager – had a weekly status call with Listrak team members to review the plan and make necessary revisions.
The partnership resulted in a smooth onboarding and integration process, and the company was ready to begin sending marketing campaigns, Shopping Cart Abandonment and Browse Abandonment campaigns, Welcome Series and Post Purchase emails to meet the deadline. In addition, browse and purchase behavior data was being tracked, and three years of data was being imported to leverage for segmentation and personalized product recommendations.
Commenting on Gardener’s initial impression of working with Listrak, Joe says, “During those first months we valued Listrak’s willingness to not charge based on time and materials, but rather to agree upfront on what it would take to get us live by our deadline and commit to it without nickel and diming us along the way.”
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