Plants are a great way to spruce up any home, but Millennials starting out on home gardening often struggle to grasp its subtleties and ditch the endeavor altogether; Patch is an online gardening center aimed at Millennials that hopes to deliver every consumer their own "urban jungle". The retailer uses catchy plant names, casual language, and approachable categorizations to remove the intimidation from learning about gardening, helping Millennials to keep lush urban greenery alive and thriving.
The plants available through Patch are labeled with cute human names based on their Latin roots, like 'Mae' for chamaerops humilis and 'Susie' for sansevieria. The site also organizes plants by the spaces in one's home where they'd be most appropriate (rather than the type of plant itself). Its verticals are separated into indoor and outdoor and subdivided into areas like 'Kitchen', 'Bathroom', 'Balcony', and 'Windowsill', to name a few.
Millennial-Focused Urban Garden Centers
Patch Delivers "Urban Jungles" and Advice for Keeping Them
Trend Themes
1. Millennial Gardening - The trend of creating user-friendly gardening spaces and resources specifically targeted towards Millennials presents an opportunity for disruptive innovation in the gardening industry.
2. Casualized Plant Naming - The trend of using catchy, relatable plant names based on their Latin roots provides an innovative approach to make gardening more engaging and less intimidating for consumers.
3. Space-based Plant Categorization - The trend of organizing plants by the spaces in one's home where they'd be most appropriate rather than the type of plant itself can lead to disruptive innovation in the way gardening products are marketed and sold.
Industry Implications
1. Gardening Retail - The gardening retail industry can capitalize on the trend of targeting Millennials by providing user-friendly online platforms, catchy plant names, and space-based categorization.
2. E-commerce - The e-commerce industry can explore opportunities to cater to the growing demand for user-friendly online gardening centers aimed specifically at Millennials.
3. Gardening Education - The gardening education industry can develop innovative resources and approaches to teach Millennials about gardening in a casual and approachable manner.