Artificial Plants Wholesale Import Guides for Online Resellers
Are you good at flower arrangements DIY creation? Do friends seek your advice and service to decorate their homes with plants and flowers? Why not sell online as the internet provides a platform to connect with plant enthusiasts, botanists and homeowners? Here is a small business opportunity to take full advantage of your creativity without investing too much. In this article, you will learn everything about artificial plants wholesale online reselling business.
What is an online reseller?
An online reseller refers to an individual or enterprise that purchases and sells clearly priced products on the website or e-commerce platforms. It is the intermediary between the manufacturer and the customer. Perhaps more tellingly, a reseller can fall into four kinds of people:
- Distributor: Buys from the original manufacturer or supplier and sells to the wholesaler or retailer
- Wholesaler: Buys from the distributor and sells to the retailer
- Retailer: Buys from distributor or wholesaler and resells to the end customer
- Arbitrage seller: Finds a deal and sells for a small markup online
Most artificial plant resellers are retailers and some even purchase directly from manufacturers in a minimum order quantity. When there’s a demanding market in the local, retailers tend to purchase at least 1-2 40FT containers of artificial plants and flowers at lower prices.
Why start an artificial plants online resale business?
Resale has many benefits and can be a profitable business model, especially if you have niche expertise. You can start the e-commerce business faster by going through all product development and audience-building steps.
Online resale market growth
Each sales method has its place in every industry, but the trend is toward an enormous growth opportunity in e-commerce transactions.
Source: statista.com
According to a recent study, online resale market value is forecast to take over the offline market in the United States by 2026. It indicates there’s a huge demand in online markets.
People shop online motivation
Shopping online is more of a lifestyle. A Customer Experience Study reveals that consumers want more choices, more control, more discounts and returns, and the best deals when shopping online.
No matter where you are in the supply chain – selling to other enterprises or end consumers – e-commerce is growing at a rate you can’t ignore.
Interestingly though, the lowest prices were not always the most important motivation for online shopping. Consumers pay more attention to convenience than price.
Global artificial plants market insight
One of the essential drivers of the growing artificial plant market in the globe is customers’ demand for DIY & home improvement items. So companies source trending decorative products like artificial hedges, grass, plants and flowers to provide a complete home gardening or landscaping solution for domestic clients.
For instance, the artificial plants and flowers market in the United States is expected to grow by $369.08 million during 2021-2025, progressing at a CAGR of almost 4% during the forecast period. (Artificial plants and flowers market in US 2021-2025, Source: marketresearch.com)
What are trendy artificial plants to sell online?
The trend below may make sense to your online retail business. The artificial plant markets in different countries and regions are not the same. However, we can distinguish some major markets in terms of artificial plants, artificial flowers, artificial hedge, artificial grass, and artificial trees.
Source: trends.google.com
Artificial grass/turf
Judging from the popularity of lawns, artificial grass has always been the hottest product in the entire simulated plant market. Although it reached a peak in the past five years, the global artificial grass popularity shows a downward trend from 2020, reflecting that the lawn market is becoming saturated.
Top 5 countries by interest:
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- St. Helena
- Australia
- South Africa
You’ll find it challenging to compete with professional suppliers when you want to resell fake grass online. The parameters of synthetic grass are much more complicated than other categories. You need to get more knowledge from your supplier in time to display enough information on the website to show your specialization and be well prepared to deal with customer queries. Otherwise, you may encounter more professional lawn clients than you.
Nevertheless, upon deciding to sell artificial turf, you need to pay attention to the time March to May when the demand is rising.
Trendy products:
- Artificial grass deck tiles
- 3D embossed pattern grass mats
Artificial flowers
In the past five years, the popularity of artificial flowers has shown a fluctuating upward trend. But with numerous flower shops/florists worldwide and production bases (mainly in Southeast Asia and China), competition among artificial flower suppliers is still fierce. Unlike artificial grass, artificial flowers are easy for people to create manually and match at will, so their market is not yet close to saturation.
Top 5 countries by interest:
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- Sri Lanka
Artificial flowers are made from various materials, depending on the market you’ve been involved in. Polyester has become the preferred fabric for floral manufacturers and buyers due to its low cost, fabric ability to accept dyes, glues, and durability. Most silk flowers are sold by stem. Their design starts from nature and is deeply influenced by interior design and fashion trends. For online resale, low cost is second to quality. New technologies such as permanent silk processes that fuse flowers with stems and make them more durable to improve the function and beauty of silk flowers. Generally speaking, early March and early May each year are the hottest periods, which means that the demand is the highest, and December is when the need is the lowest during the Christmas season.
Artificial plants
Affected by the global epidemic, since June 2020, the popularity of artificial plants has not increased as before. Many brick-and-mortar stores are facing the dilemma of closing. However, after the epidemic situation improves, the online sales of fake potted plants will continue to grow.
Top 5 countries by interest:
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- United Arab Emirates
Like artificial flowers, simulated plants are also composed of different materials. For interior use, artificial plants are usually made of polyester fabric, while they tend to be UV resistant for exterior applications. So before purchasing artificial plants in bulk, please confirm with your supplier whether the plants are used outdoors and whether he can provide UV protection test data. The permanent silk processes technology is also used to produce plants with a dry appearance and soft touch (Velvet Touch). Leaves, in particular, benefit from a soft tactile treatment that changes the size of leaves on individual branches and gives them a warm, gentle feel. Likewise, March to May is the hottest time of the year for artificial plants, which also drives the International Sourcing Festival, as you can see on some platforms such as Alibaba.
Trendy products:
- Hanging hoop with artificial foliage
- Mini fake potted plants
Artificial tree
The popularity trend of artificial tree is traceable. In general, the demand for fake trees is mainly seasonal, that is, concentrated before Christmas. Of course, it is undeniable that faux trees are also widely used in landscape projects, such as olive trees in restaurants, palm trees in amusement parks, etc.
Top 5 countries by interest:
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Ireland
- Canada
- Australia
Today’s faux trees don’t resemble the metal rods and cheap green plastic of the past. The new version of artificial trees is closer to real ones than ever, though they may not match the exact feeling, appearance or smell of natural trees. When it comes to artificial trees, the top 1 ranking on the search engine must be the Christmas tree. Due to the Christmas holidays, the third quarter of each year is a time when demand climbs and continues until early December. September is the right time to purchase artificial Christmas trees and ship them to your country.
Artificial hedge
The popularity of artificial hedge is not as high as that of the aforementioned artificial plants categories. Still, in terms of trends, it at least shows that there is a massive demand in the hedge market and the competition will not be too fierce.
Top 5 countries by interest:
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
In addition to hedge fences, we usually regard artificial plant walls as the upgraded version of fake hedges. Unlike silk flowers and indoor artificial plants, faux hedges are made of polyethylene plastic and are suitable for the outdoors because they’re weather resistant. Artificial hedging is accessible to any setting, e.g., garden fence, wedding archway, exhibition hedge wall, interior vertical garden, etc. However, the quality of the market varies, which needs to be judged on the appearance, smell, touch and other aspects. So ask for some samples to check the quality before making a large order.
Trendy products:
- Artificial trellis expandable hedge
- Artificial vertical garden
Read more: Sunwing artificial plants top sales in different countries.
Where to find artificial plants wholesale suppliers?
When discussing this part, you need to be clear about how much you want to invest in the artificial plant business. If you don’t buy enough to meet the MOQ, then locate a distributor in your country. You can set your insights on the importation from East and Southeast Asia for bulk wholesale artificial plants.
China is one of the most sought countries when traders source and import factory-direct products. Why not import artificial plants in bulk for resale in your area from China?
Online vs. offline
Online methods refer to through the internet, such as e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and Made-in-China, Google or social network services (SNS). With a single click, you’ll find much more than you expected.
If you do not like doing business with people you have never met and want to see them in person, you can choose offline. That is to go directly to China to find artificial plant factories. It is also a good idea to hire a purchasing agent.
Key artificial plants resellers online
Home Depot
“There are dozens of popular artificial plants to find the best fake ones that are decent enough to display at home.”
Nearly Natural
“Perfect for home or office Shop with confidence knowing their collections’ looks so real, they’re Nearly Natural!’.”
The Sill
“The Sill helps you cultivate a life well-lived through indoor plants and elements of biophilic design.”
Afloral
“For the highest-quality faux flowers and plants, Afloral is my go-to.”
B&M
“Spruce up your home with a range of artificial flowers & plants as well as vases to put them in.”
Read more: A start-up guide to artificial plants and flowers retail businesses in the UK.
How to make your online resale business profitable?
In today’s era, carrying out online resale business is a profitable career choice. With a simple Internet connection and a reasonable data plan, you can start with a nominal investment. However, competition comes after simplicity. More and more people have begun to get involved in this field.
Be trustworthy.
Listen to your customers’ needs and guide them to the right place and the right product to resolve their problems.
Thoroughly describe the condition of all products you sell, e.g., shipping policies and restock information.
Use high-quality photos.
For online resellers, the more pictures (7-10) you use, the more credibility you will get from potential customers.
Avoid copying or stealing photos from the internet.
Give a cross-device experience.
When building your own website rather than selling on third platforms, ensure it offers a consistent experience across different devices.
Engage the audience and drive traffic by promoting your resale business on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Mind your profit margins.
The best way to increase profitability is to find a manufacturer or wholesaler who can give you discounts on bulk purchases. Pass on price advantages to your customers.
Identify your packaging.
Provided you want to set up a brand, you need to start thinking about customized packaging, from design to dimension.
Commit to customer service.
Resellers often add some value to the customer experience. Purchasing directly from suppliers is not easy and usually requires a minimum quantity, but resellers can sell individual products (markups) to customers and create a branded customer experience. These elements can be simple, such as in-depth product descriptions and reviews, customer loyalty programs, and customer support.
Wrapping this up…
There might be some slight negativeness of reselling online, but nothing in the world is 100% positive. Thankfully, with Sunwing’s help, a number of our customers benefit from the online resale business. If you’d also like to take action and start that business, please don’t hesitate to contact us by sending us an email: sales@sunwinggreen.com
- By: SUNWING
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