How To Sell Plants Online: Grow Your Green Empire in 2024

If you’re considering selling plants online, there’s a big difference between listing a few plants on a marketplace like eBay and building a real business. Prebuilt marketplaces might seem easier (and are a good option for a one-time sale). However, having your own online plant store is a more effective route, especially if you’re serious about selling regularly.

With an online store, you’ll control your brand, customer experience, and, most importantly, profits – without high seller fees cutting into them. And building a website isn’t as difficult or expensive as it sounds.

With Wix, you can quickly set up an attractive online plant store using predesigned templates and an easy drag-and-drop editor. You don’t need to know a thing about coding. Wix offers affordable pricing plans to start small and grow without breaking the bank.

Whether you’re just testing the waters or ready to start a small business, I’ll show you step-by-step how to sell plants online. You’ll see that it’s easier than it seems and totally within your reach.

Planting the Seeds for Success

Find Your Niche and Define Your Brand

Trying to appeal to every plant lover can dilute your efforts, so it’s crucial to zero in on 1–3 subniches that excite you and align with what’s in demand. These could be indoor houseplants (e.g., succulents or air plants) or edible plants (e.g., fruit trees and vegetable seedlings). You can use keyword research tools like Google Trends to see what plants are trending and in demand.

Once you’ve narrowed your niche, think about how your plants will be different from competitors’. For example, you could focus on environmentally friendly packaging or expert plant care advice. Defining these elements early on will help you build a memorable and unique brand.

Research Your Target Audience

Understanding your audience will help shape your marketing strategies and product offerings. Your target audience varies greatly depending on the type of plants you sell. For instance, houseplant buyers may be urban millennials or Gen Z customers seeking low-maintenance, decorative plants. Meanwhile, health-conscious consumers might be more interested in edible plants or medicinal herbs.

Use social media platforms (like Instagram and Pinterest, where plant enthusiasts share their collections), gardening forums, or surveys to study potential customer behavior. What types of plants are people buying? What questions or challenges are they facing when shopping for plants online? Analyzing this information will help you fine-tune your marketing messages and product selection.

Analyze Your Competitors

Analyzing the competition will help you avoid potential pitfalls and uncover opportunities to differentiate yourself. Start by visiting online stores or platforms where plants are sold, such as Etsy or eBay. Take note of product offerings, pricing structure, customer experience, and marketing tactics.

Plan Your Sourcing

Now that you have a solid understanding of your niche, audience, and competitors, it’s time to plan how you’ll source your plants. Sourcing can be done in a few ways:

• Grow your own plants. If you have the space and expertise, growing plants yourself can help ensure quality control and keep costs down. However, this requires a significant time and labor investment.
• Partner with local nurseries. This is the best and easiest route for beginners. Partnering with nurseries or wholesalers allows you to offer a wider range of plants without the upfront costs of growing them. Look for suppliers with good reputations for quality and customer service.
• Dropbroadering plants. While this method eliminates the need for inventory management, it also limits control over the quality and delivery experience.

Choose the Right Platform To Sell Your Plants

Many sellers turn to specialized platforms like Etsy, Amazon, or eBay to quickly get their plants in front of potential buyers. These platforms are great for exposure and convenience since they handle a lot of the marketing, web hosting, and payment processing for you. However, they come with significant downsides.

Online marketplace fees can quickly add up, cutting into your profits. And you’ll have limited control over how your plants are presented and marketed. You’ll also need to operate within their rules and restrictions, which can make it difficult to express your brand and stand out from the competition.

Selling through social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook is another option, especially if you already have a following. Social media makes it easy to engage with potential customers and showcase your plants in real time. However, while this might be an effective starting point, social media cannot create a fully customized, branded shopping experience. Additionally, managing inventory and sales across multiple platforms can become a headache.

That’s why building your own online plant store is the best path. With a website builder like Wix, you get total control over your storefront’s look, feel, and functionality, allowing you to represent your brand.

But it doesn’t stop there. Wix also allows you to sell on eBay, Amazon, and across all your social media accounts from a single dashboard. You can manage everything – your inventory, orders, and marketing – all in one place.

In the coming sections, I’ll walk you through creating your own online plant store using Wix. With Wix’s 14-day free trial, you can start building your store and exploring all its powerful features risk-free.

Choose a Good Name for Your Online Plant Store

Ideally, your store name should match your domain name. A consistent name across your brand and domain helps ensure that customers won’t be confused when searching for your store online.

A domain name is simply your website’s address on the internet, like “www.yourplantstore.com.” Choosing a domain name that’s short, memorable, and reflects the nature of your plant business is essential. Including relevant keywords, like “plants,” “garden,” or “flora,” can also help your site appear more easily in search results, which is a great way to attract customers.

When planning your budget, keep in mind that a domain name usually comes at an additional cost, separate from your website builder plan. However, some website builders (like Wix) offer a free domain for the first year, which can be a helpful perk as you’re starting out.

If you’re unsure what name to choose or want to check which domain is available, many website builders, including Wix, offer tools like domain name generators. These can suggest names based on your business keywords and show you which domains are still available, making the process a lot smoother.

Customize Your Plant Store

With Wix, you can set up a beautiful, plant-themed store. Its 800+ customizable templates and drag-and-drop editor make the process very simple. After signing up for Wix, head to your dashboard and click on the Design Site button. You’ll have two options: Generate a Design with AI or Customize a Template.

If you want a quick solution, you can use Wix’s AI builder, which asks a few questions and generates a plant store site for you. I prefer this option for a one-page store, but note that you might need to add essential pages like About Us or Contact later.

For more creative control, choose Customize a Template. Wix offers templates specifically for plant or garden-related businesses. Simply search for “plant” or “garden” to find relevant templates.

Once you’ve selected a template, you’ll enter Wix’s drag-and-drop editor, where you can begin personalizing your site. Wix’s editor is very straightforward – simply select any section of the template you wish to customize to display the relevant buttons, guiding you through the available edit options.

The homepage is critical, as it’s the first thing your customers will see, so it needs to reflect your brand and the overall aesthetic you’re going for. Click on the background and select Quick Edit. Swap out the default background with images that reflect lush greenery or plant aesthetics to set the right mood for your store.

Consider adding a header image, like a high-resolution photo of your best plant displays or something nature-inspired. Also, update texts by clicking on any text box. You’ll want to change the default store name to yours. Maybe even add a catchy tagline like “Bringing the Outdoors In” or “Your Home, Greener Than Ever.”

Other things you can adjust include the color theme, which you can do by clicking on Site Design in the left-hand menu. I recommend using earthy tones like greens, browns, and neutral shades that will align with your plant store’s aesthetic. You can also add banners, image carousels, icons, and a video section.

Add Your Plants as Products

To start selling plants online, navigate to your Wix dashboard. Select Catalog > Store Products > Products from the dashboard to manage and add new listings to your store. Next, click New Product in the top-right corner of the page and select Physical product. You’ll be taken to a page where you can upload all the necessary details for each plant you want to sell.

When adding plants to your store, the most important thing you can do is showcase them with high-quality, attractive images. Upload multiple-angle photos of your plants to give your customers a detailed view. For example, include pictures of the entire plant, close-ups of the leaves or blooms, and the pot it comes in.

I recommend photographing them in natural lighting and staging them in typical home environments, such as on a windowsill or a plant stand. This gives your customers a better idea of how the plant will fit their own spaces.

Once you’ve uploaded your images, proceed to describe these plants in detail. Use a descriptive and informative name like “Hardy Echeveria Succulent – Perfect for Beginners” instead of simply “Succulent.”

Use the Description section to give the plant a personality and convince the customer why it’s a must-have. Highlight key features, such as its low maintenance needs, air-purifying qualities, or any specific care tips. For example, “This low-maintenance snake plant thrives in low light and purifies your air, making it an excellent choice for any indoor space.”

If you sell different plant variations – such as different sizes, pot colors, or even propagation kits – include them in the Product options section. You can enable the Pre-order toggle to let customers order plants in advance, especially for highly sought-after species. You can also offer a subscription service for customers who would like to receive a new plant each month.

Update Your Store Settings and Payment Information

To successfully sell plants online with Wix, you’ll need to ensure that your store’s settings and payment information are in order. From your Wix dashboard, you can access and configure these settings to provide a seamless shopping experience for your customers.

Go to your Wix dashboard and click Settings in the left-hand menu. You’ll find everything you need to tailor your online plant store here. Start by customizing the checkout experience for your customers by clicking on Checkout.

You can add a contact form at checkout to gather customer details like email addresses and phone numbers. This is great if you’re planning on offering plant care tips or newsletters through email marketing or SMS. Don’t forget to activate the subscription opt-in checkbox, which lets your customers sign up for your email or SMS lists.

Next, configure your Shipping and Delivery options. As plants are perishable, you’ll want to provide fast shipping, and you may even offer local delivery or pickup options to keep your plants fresh. In this section, you’ll also be able to add a fulfillment service that will store and ship your plants.

Finally, head over to the Accept Payments section to choose how your customers will pay for their plants. Wix offers various payment options, including credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and digital wallets (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay). You can also accept Afterpay or Klarna installments for larger orders such as bulk plants or expensive indoor planters.

Preview and Launch Your Plant Store

Before officially launching your plant store, you should preview and test every aspect to ensure a seamless customer experience. Start by reviewing your site on both desktop and mobile devices to check content display, fix spelling or grammatical errors, and make sure that your plant images are clear and sized correctly. Verify that plant descriptions, prices, and any other details, like care tips or sunlight requirements, are accessible and well-organized.

Next, thoroughly test all e-commerce features. If you’re selling plants online, simulate the shopping experience by adding items to the cart and going through the entire checkout process. This will help ensure that payment gateways and shipping options are applied correctly.

If you’re offering services like plant delivery scheduling or in-store pickup, make sure those features work seamlessly, so your customers can select convenient times and receive confirmation. Test buttons, navigation menus, and links to ensure they’re functional and that they direct customers to the right pages.

Remember to test how your plant store performs on mobile devices. Since many customers browse and shop using their phones, your store should load quickly and function smoothly across different screen sizes. Running a speed test using a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse can give you insights into your store’s performance.

Start Selling on Amazon, eBay, and Social Media

Expanding your plant business to platforms like Amazon, eBay, and social media can increase your visibility and sales significantly. You can use Wix to set up stores on these platforms, managing your plant sales from a single dashboard.

To get started, go to your Wix dashboard and navigate to Catalog > Sales Channels. You can connect your site to platforms like Amazon, eBay, Google Merchant Solutions, and TikTok Catalog. Click on the desired platform and follow the setup instructions.

Once your stores are connected, you can easily manage your plant listings from the Wix dashboard. This includes updating product descriptions, prices, and stock levels across all platforms in real time.

While maximizing your market reach is crucial, some platforms are better suited for selling certain types of plants. Amazon, for example, has a dedicated section for garden and outdoor products, making it an excellent choice for selling indoor and outdoor plants.

eBay can be beneficial for rare or specialty plants, as its auction-style listings can attract collectors. Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are perfect for showcasing visually appealing plants and creating viral marketing campaigns to engage plant enthusiasts.

Promote Your Online Plant Store

One of the best ways to promote your plant store is by optimizing your website for search engines (through SEO). Wix offers built-in SEO features to help you improve your site’s rankings. You can easily tweak your product titles, descriptions, and meta tags to better reflect plant types, care instructions, and plant benefits. These optimizations make your store easier to find for people searching for specific plants or gardening tips online.

Another valuable strategy is email marketing. By collecting the email addresses of your website visitors, you can send them updates on new plant arrivals, seasonal gardening advice, and special offers. Regular email engagement keeps your customers informed and can help boost repeat purchases. You can use Wix for your email campaigns or integrate email marketing tools with your account for more advanced functionalities.

Social media is another powerful promotional tool for an online plant store. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are great for sharing visually captivating images of your plants, while Facebook can be used to join plant-focused groups or create ads targeting local gardening enthusiasts. You can use Wix’s social media tools or take advantage of dedicated social media software.

If managing these promotional activities seems like a lot, I suggest hiring a freelancer. Freelancers specializing in e-commerce can help design, optimize, and promote your store relatively cheaply. These experts handle everything from SEO and marketing to website maintenance, freeing up your time to focus on your plants.

Promoting your online plant store requires consistent effort and a long-term approach. As you build your SEO profile and launch marketing campaigns, consider using quick-start strategies like selling directly on social media platforms like Facebook Marketplace or Groups. This multi-channel approach can help you reach customers quickly while further developing your online presence.

Growing Your Online Plant Business in 2024

Selling plants online is an exciting journey that starts with creating a simple, well-organized store. Once you’ve set up your basic shop and added your first products, you’ll want to focus on continuously tracking your website’s performance. Regularly updating your store with new plants, content, and care tips will help keep your customers engaged and coming back for more.

As your business grows, refining your site and expanding your marketing efforts will be key. But remember, the most important step is to start. Build your store today, and you can always enhance it and add more as you gain experience and your plant business flourishes.

FAQ

How do I start a plant business online from home?

To start an online plant business from home, begin by researching your niche, sourcing plants, and setting up an online store. You can use a website builder like Wix to easily create a website and manage your orders. And make sure to track performance and update your content regularly to grow your business.

Where is the best place to sell plants online?

The best place to sell plants online is through your own online store. While platforms like Amazon and eBay may seem like the best choice, they don’t give you the control and customizability that website builders like Wix provide. Besides, Wix lets you sell your plants on these third-party marketplaces while still running an online plant store.

Can I sell plants I grow at home?

Yes, you can generally sell plants you grow at home, but it’s important to check local laws for any required licenses or permits. Growing your own plants allows for greater quality control, but it might be better to source from nurseries and wholesalers if you’re just starting out.

Is it profitable to sell plants online?

Yes, selling plants online can be profitable. Success depends on factors like plant variety, market demand, and efficient operations. To maximize profitability, use a reputable website builder to control branding and avoid marketplace fees.