Helping Garden Centres Grow

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Mark Channen

July 17, 2025

Garden centres are no longer just a place to pick up petunias and compost, they’ve bloomed into full-fledged destinations, offering cafés, gift shops, children’s play zones, aquatic centres, seasonal events, and even lifestyle inspiration.

Experiential Retail is growing, and with this transformation comes complexity: multiple revenue streams, stock management, seasonal staffing, customer loyalty programmes, online shops, events, and café operations. So, how do you keep it all under control?

The answer is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, a powerful all-in-one ERP system designed for growing businesses like yours, and with Dynavics as your green-thumbed tech partner, it’s never been easier to keep your garden centre blooming.

Cultivating Clear Visibility with Real-Time Data

Managing seasonal stock like plants, bulbs, and garden furniture is not a problem. Business Central tracks it all in real time, across locations, product types, and categories.

No more guessing what’s in the greenhouse or warehouse, you’ll know what’s growing and what’s going, quickly and easily, and Integration with POS systems like LS Retail, means your café, tills, and gift shop all talk to the same system.

Simplifying Multi-Channel Sales

Many garden centres now sell both in-store and online. Whether it’s through Shopify, Sana Commerce, or your own eCommerce platform, Business Central centralises it all.
Inventory syncs automatically, so what’s available online reflects what’s on the shelf.

Managing the Café and Events

From Sunday roasts to Santa’s Grotto, garden centres run busy cafés and seasonal events. Business Central allows you to:

Track food and drink sales
Manage bookings
Handle suppliers and stock
Analyse customer trends and spending habits

…and with Dynavics tailored ticketing and events management add-on, give you the insights you need to fill gaps, avoid overbooking, and boost ROI on special days.

Unified POS and Loyalty

Customer loyalty is the heart of many garden centres — and LS Retail, connected to Business Central, lets you:

Offer loyalty points and promotions
Reward customers across departments
Send targeted marketing based on purchase behaviour

…at Dynavics, we help garden centres personalise experiences, improve repeat visits, and manage end-to-end transactions all in one platform.

Making Stock Control a Breeze

Business Central keeps tabs on:

Plant batches
Giftware
Seasonal items
Fertiliser and chemicals (with safety and expiry info)

…you’ll never be caught out ordering too much lawn seed or too few daffodil bulbs again.

Using Jet Reports (via Dynavics) will also give instant dashboards showing best-sellers, slow-movers, and seasonal trends. There’s nothing like actionable insights!

Supporting Your Staff

Garden centres often flex teams throughout the year. With Sirius Payroll365, linked to Business Central, you can:

Manage seasonal staff hours
Simplify payroll
Stay compliant with HMRC

…we can help automate the whole process here, freeing up your HR team to focus on growing talent, not battling spreadsheets.

Budgeting and Forecasting

Business Central provides powerful financial tools too, helping you:

Forecast seasonal income
Control operational costs
Track margins on plant sales vs café revenue

…boosted by Jet Reports & Power BI, Dynavics helps build visual dashboards so you know when to stock up on compost, and when to trim your costs.

Weathering Unpredictable Seasons

This summer has been amazing, but our weather isn’t always reliable. Business Central’s forecasting and historical trend analysis, helps you prepare for both sunny Saturdays and rainy weeks.

…we can even set up automation so your ordering and staffing responds to real-time trends and previous weather-driven spikes.

Garden centres are vibrant, diverse businesses, and with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and our expertise in this sector, your business will become: