Bareroot Marketing Tips
We Sell at Wholesale
to Retail Nurseries & Garden Centers
Farmer's Market & Fruit Stand Growers
Container Growers & Commercial Orchardists
We Do Not Sell Individual Trees
To purchase Dave Wilson Nursery-grown trees,
please contact one of our many customers.
Our Special Order Fruit Tree Program
may be an option at your local nursery.
Merchandising can make the difference!
Hang Picture Tags on all trees, when possible.
Use Bin Tags or large variety photos for easy ID of varieties.
Attract people with bright signs.
Consider a Banner to draw customers to your fruit tree area.
Re-evaluate the location of your product.
Prominent display-bins or a "Feature" area will improve sales!
Observe the seasonal merchandising strategies of department stores and use similar techniques.
Visibly promote Backyard Orchard Culture (BYOC) and high density planting in the bareroot sales area.
Sell three or four trees-per-customer instead of one. Use pictures and diagrams.
Plant a 3-or-4-in-1-hole planting in a 24-inch box and price it to sell.
Cross-merchandise your product. Stock mulches, top-dressings, and related goods with your bareroot display.
Use visual reminders to recommend related products.
Mark a bin with Our Favorites or House Varieties.
Fill it with selections that are Taste Test Winners and proven varieties in your area.
Recommend great non-commodity varieties and set yourself apart from the chainstores!
Selling your program
- Emphasize variety names
- Offer a wide selection
- Compare Taste Test Winners
- Mention the New Varieties
When the big-box stores advertise a lower price-point, let your customers know that you carry the widest selection and the best varieties. Shift the attention away from comparisons of can-size and price.
Give your customers a shopping list in print advertising and with your newsletters: Name all the fruit varieties you carry.
Make sure your sales crew is comfortable with Backyard Orchard Culture principles.
You can request our in-house 5-page guide: Selling Backyard Orchard Culture.
Use the Special Order Fruit Tree program to sell next year's trees Now! With the SOFT program, you can pre-order trees for your customers. When customers come in looking for varieties that you don’t ordinarily stock—or when it's late in the season and many varieties have sold out, use the SOFT program!
Be ready with sales aids!
Keep your Custom Handouts and Description Books handy to answer variety questions.
Update your photo album with current variety photos. If you don't have a photo album, start one Now!
Prepare a planting guide with information on soil types and adaptations, recommended amendments and how to use them. Include spray and feeding instructions. Merchandise the related items with your bareroot trees.
These tools can turn an awkward moment into a smooth sales presentation.
Use Ripening Charts (Harvest Charts) and Fruit Tasting
reports in the sales area to promote successive ripening and Taste Test Winners.
Use the Low Chill list to narrow the selection of varieties suited to low chill conditions.
Promote fruit tree care seminars at your nursery and you'll build a solid customer base. Use newsletters and handouts.
A list of web page links for information or a FAQ handout is a useful tool.
Inventory Control!
Bareroot figs, persimmons, pomegranates, walnuts and pecans can be difficult to maintain.
Consider a "No Guarantee" policy
OR containerize these items as soon as you receive them and sell them when they are rooted in.
Post a No Returns Accepted until June 15th sign.
Sleeve all pecans and walnuts—plant trees in 15-gallon containers and cut the bottom out of a 5-gallon container to cover the remainder of the root.
The entire root should be covered to within 2 inches of the bud union.
- Figs can be difficult to start - For the best results:
- Plant them as soon as they come in
- Keep them in a covered area
- Water them once only
- Don't let them get water (including winter rain) until they show signs of life in spring
A representative variety of your bareroot stock—30% to 50%—should go into containers as soon as it comes in. This will ensure that you have ready-to-sell container stock as early as possible and will reduce your springtime workload.
If weather threatens sales in the first half of bareroot season, don't forget to can additional material. You don’t want to get caught with a bin full of leafed-out bareroot trees and a shortage of rooted in-container trees.
Look for opportunities to justify a higher price-point. Put specialty varieties (all walnuts, persimmons, multi-budded trees, etc.) into larger cans (7 or 15 gallon) to distinguish them from the regular inventory and to increase the perceived value to the customer.
Put slow-moving varieties on sale during the bareroot season while the market is good.
Consider three for the price of two promotions, centered around a 3-in-1-hole planting.
If you simply encourage your customers to use new techniques, you'll move more inventory without undercutting your base pricing.
