PlanteCenter Fyn: Danish-produced garden plants via dropshipping for 8 years
This is how Stig Pedersen runs a pure dropshipping webshop with garden plants from Danish growers, with no technical background and no warehouse of his own. He does all the day-to-day work himself.
I've had a webshop on Shoporama for 8 years and it has been the right choice for me. The platform is easy to work with in everyday life, despite the fact that I'm definitely not technically strong, I manage the daily work myself, without needing technical help.
About PlanteCenter Fyn: A gardener, a webshop and Danish plants
Stig Pedersen is a trained nursery gardener and has more than 30 years of experience in the profession. He started PlanteCenter Fyn as a physical nursery in 2011 on Funen and launched the webshop the following year. From 2018, he closed the physical part and concentrated fully on the online trade with garden plants.
The range is curated, not broad for the sake of being broad. Ornamental trees, shrubs, ground cover, hedging plants, bamboo, flower seeds, ornamental grasses and sphagnum. All plants come from Danish producers, and this is a conscious decision. This means shorter transportation routes, plants that are used to the Danish climate, and a direct line between the gardener who grows the plant and the customer who gets it in the ground.
Stig runs the store together with Rikke and Anette, and the phone rarely stops ringing. Advice is the whole point. Customers call and write with questions about soil, placement, hedge selection and watering, and get answers from someone who has been there with shovel in hand.
No hall, no pallet truck, still all of Denmark as customers
PlanteCenter Fyn does not own the plants in stock. When a customer orders a coneflower, a fruit tree or a ready-made hedge, the order goes to the Danish producer who has grown that particular plant, and from there it is sent directly to the customer. This model places some special demands on the platform: product master data must match, delivery time must be set per product, and the order flow must be shared among several senders.
This is exactly the type of flexibility Stig needs, and Shoporama handles it out of the box. Orders can be split, products can have different delivery times, shipping rules can be built per category, and communication with the manufacturer is automatic.
- ✓ Orders can be split up per manufacturer without manual handling
- ✓ Delivery time can be set individually per product
- ✓ Shipping rules per category so plants and seeds are shipped differently
- ✓ Flat rate shipping to anywhere in the country
- ✓ 5-year growth guarantee on the finished hedge, managed in the shop
Category with flower seeds. A large assortment from different manufacturers, gathered under one roof in the shop.
Built so a gardener can run it, not just a developer
One of the things Stig emphasizes is that he is not technically strong. This doesn't mean that the shop stands still. It means that Shoporama is built so that daily operations can be handled without having to open a code editor.
Products are created, prices are corrected, images are changed, articles are written, campaigns are added. All from the admin panel. When something needs to be adjusted, Stig does it himself, and when he has any doubts, support is easy to reach.
Daily operation yourself
Products, prices, categories, articles and promotions are managed from the admin panel without code.
Support that answers
When something is unclear or needs to be set up, support is easy to get in touch with. Not a ticket system for ten weeks.
A network of merchants
Other Shoporama stores share knowledge and tips. Especially in the start-up, it made a big difference, says Stig.
Product page for Bluebell, with gardener's description, uses and reviews.
Product pages with the gardener's own knowledge
Each product page doesn't just have a generic supplier text. Stig adds application descriptions, soil and light requirements, height specifications and typical mistakes so the customer can make a choice that suits their garden. It's the same knowledge they would get on the phone, just in writing and available at all hours of the day.
Reviews, related products and clear delivery info are gathered on the same page, making it easy for the customer to go from Google search to order without having to call in first.
- ✓ Gardener's own descriptions on each plant
- ✓ Reviews from previous customers built into the shop
- ✓ Related products are automatically suggested
- ✓ Delivery time per product clearly displayed
What does PlanteCenter Fyn get out of it
Time to do what he does best
Because the admin panel is simple, Stig doesn't spend time struggling with the system. Time that would otherwise be spent on technology is spent finding the right plants and advising customers on the phone.
Low capital tied up
The dropshipping model means that PlanteCenter Fyn does not have to maintain an expensive nursery stock. The plants live with the producer until the order arrives. Less risk, less waste and no overproduction.
A platform that can broaden
PlanteCenter Fyn started as a simple plant shop. The blog, advice, gift cards and more categories have been added along the way. All on the same shop, without a change of platform.
A network of colleagues
Stig emphasizes that the help from other Shoporama merchants, especially in the start-up phase, was crucial for PlanteCenter Fyn to get this far. It's rarely something a platform can advertise, but can be felt in practice.
Stig from PlanteCenter Fyn tells us
I've had a webshop on Shoporama for 8 years and it has been the right choice for me. Plantecenterfyn.dk is a dropshipping webshop, which places some special demands on the platform you choose.
The platform is easy to work with in everyday life, despite the fact that I'm definitely not technically strong, I manage the daily work myself without needing technical help. This means I can focus on what I do best, which is finding the right plants and giving customers good advice.
The help I have received from Shoporama, and not least the other Shoporama merchants, especially in the beginning, was crucial for PlanteCenter Fyn to get as far as we are.
Shoporama understands what a small shop needs and the support is easy to get in touch with when I have questions or challenges. That means a lot.
Do you run a small webshop and are not technical?
Whether you sell plants, crafts, specialty foods or anything else, Shoporama can be owner-operated. Let's talk about what it could look like for you.