Independent Garden Centers and online plant sellers, like Ship My Plants, are using this tool to make their website databases seamless and simple to use
(Kenora, ON) The NetPS Plant Finder Tool is the plug-and-play database for independent nurseries and garden centers looking to get their plants onto their websites to support the pre-shopping research and garden planning needs of their customers, allowing them to easily manage plant selections, and maintain an up-to-date database with plant photos and accurate care information. It also provides plant-specific content such as photographs, descriptions and information for use in online stores and other online applications through the NetPS Plus service.
“Put yourself in the shoes of a garden center who needs to get 2,000+ plants on their website. How do they quickly and legally source all the photos, compile the plant information, write the descriptions, and make it searchable? We’ve built all of that into a single plug-and-play system that slides right into their existing website,” explains James Kohut, president of Northscaping and founder of NetPS. “While there are lots of added features and benefits that come with the package, such as a signage maker utility, QR codes, and plant promotions, all they need to do is set their plant selections at the start and then make revisions based on inventory at least once a year.”
Currently, over 250 independent garden centers across North America, including 27 of the Top 100 IGCs of 2023 and 7 of the top 10, are using this tool. In addition to the long list of garden centers using the tool, the new multi-vendor plant marketplace, Ship My Plants, also integrated the database. Ship My Plants is on track to become the largest online plant-selling platform. Sellers and growers create their own online shops within this online marketplace and sell with a lower fee than any other online selling application.
“The Plant Finder Tool makes the onboarding process for sellers very quick and simple,” says Rich Christakes, founder and CEO of Ship My Plants. “Sellers can add plants with just the click of a button, and the product records will stay up-to-date. With almost 40,000 plants on our marketplace, this tool is a no-brainer for us and the sellers.”
The Plant Finder Tool is the largest online commercial plant database, containing 33,000 plants. Approximately 2,000 plants are added annually to ensure the tool is up-to-date with rare plants, new introductions, local plants, natives, and more. The next expansion is scheduled to go live in February 2024.
One of the major selling points of the Plant Finder Tool is the plant photos, which are solely taken by the NetPS team. The team has curated their catalog of around 100,000 photos during their coast-to-coast travels to find the most beautiful and photo-worthy plants to photograph and use database-wide. Because of this, sellers are provided with legal copyright-protected photographs.
“The photos used within the tool are incredible – no more stock photos! The Ship My Plants website showcases the most beautiful plants because of the database’s strong photo library, explains Christakes. “And the absolute best part about the tool is that we don’t have to worry about system updates or updating information or photos; they do it all for us.”
New information and photos are added daily, so the database automatically updates for all users without the need for system updates and shutdowns. This takes the burden of website updates off the shoulders of IGCs and other plant sellers, like Ship My Plants, with over 38,000 plant profile pages to maintain – or not maintain – thanks to the Plant Finder Tool.
The Plant Finder Tool is a seller’s plant finder on their website, with their plant selections for their customers. NetPS does all the work for them, which makes having a virtual inventory a seamless and less daunting task for new and established plant sellers.
To start using the NetPS Plant Finder Tool for your IGC or online shop, please contact James Kohut at jkohut@northscaping.com.
The NetPS Plant Finder Tool provides branded searchable plant information for your customers’ pre-shopping and after-sales care needs. Over 250 North America-based independent retail garden centers are using the Plant Finder Tool for their businesses to maintain and manage their online plant information resource with just the click of a button. The Plant Finder Tool is the #1 online plant database for nurseries and garden centers. Visit Netpsplantfinder.com for more information.
Ship My Plants offers a uniquely innovative, fair, and open marketplace for local plant buyers and sellers alike – the ultimate online destination to connect plant businesses with plant purchasers near and far. For over 5 decades and two generations, the founders of Ship My Plants have belonged to the garden center industry – from plant production to brick-and-mortar retail, and most recently, the online selling experience. We prioritize education and resources to buyers and sellers alike and we believe in uncompromised quality. We are plant people and knowledge is the key to the offerings found on Ship My Plants. Visit Shipmyplants.com for more information.
