Changing Content of the Nursery Grower's Sales Agreement

Abstract

Terms of sale can affect nursery growers' costs. Terms typically have included price, quantity, and quality, but others may be added when growers sell to large customers. Because the industry is very competitive, growers are hesitant to turn down a sale simply because they are asked to pay another cost or provide another service. For this study, a list of items that might be in the terms of sale was developed. Growers were surveyed to determine which of these items were included in the agreement in 1996 and 2001. McNemar's test was used to determine whether proportions of items being added to the agreement were significantly different from items being removed when considering the mass merchandiser and the garden center market channels. Five of the items had significantly more additions to the terms of sale for mass merchandisers, contrasted to four for the garden center channel. Two of these items, apply barcode stickers and continuous inventory replenishment, were significant for both channels. The other significant items for the mass merchandiser channel were provide custom containers, provide returnable shipping equipment, and take back unsold merchandise. These are items can that enhance competitive position and provide cost savings. For garden centers, the other two items with significantly different proportions were attach product information tags, which is a service demanded by consumers, and provide minimum volume, which can reduce the number of suppliers needed in this channel.