FAQs

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How much does a Certified Shopify Online Garden Center cost?

$3500 per year, which includes a fully merchandised Shopify Plus website + 52 weeks of managed email marketing, full customer service, and email list management.

Do I need IT support to help with setup?

You might or you might not. We can help you determine whether you need assistance. The main requirement for your site is that you need a separate domain-based email address (not an alias) for your managed marketing and customer service.

If you are using a gmail, yahoo, aol, or other non-domain email for your business, and you do not have someone to help you create a domain based email and a subdomain, you will need our IT support package.

Everything else - hooking up your domain to Shopify (your store), Gorgias (the program we use to manage your customer service for online orders), and Bloomreach (the program we use to do your email marketing for you) - is included in your online store setup.

Because many local, independent businesses don't have a dedicated IT support person to help with professional email, domain records, etc. we have created a package that will allow us to help you in the most cost-effective way. This is a $499 one-time fee that will not be charged upon your yearly renewal. As a bonus, once your professional email account is set up, you'll be able to use it for your business! Questions about this? Send an email to vanessa@a24-consulting.com for more info.

Is there a separate fee for marketing?

No. Marketing is included!

Is there a separate fee for customer service help?

No! Customer service is included!

What are the transaction fees?

Retailers pay A24 Consulting 10% transaction fee on the total amount of the retail sale. Credit card transaction fees are between 2.2-2.5% for transactions made on the Certified Shopify Online Garden Center Website

Do I need to know how to code?

No! You will need access to your regular website and your domain name registrar in order to validate your email sending address and add your shop link to your website, but we'll help you with that.

Does my regular website have to move to Shopify?

No. In fact, we encourage you to keep and expand your current website because you are the local knowledge experts!

If my regular website is on Shopify, can I use that instead?

No, you may keep your existing website, but your Certified Shopify Online Garden Center will be a separate Shopify store. This is due to the way the supplier catalogs are configured and the parameters and requirements of Shopify collective. Without the A24 Consulting aggregated access to Collective, most garden centers would not meet minimum sales thresholds to participate.

How do I get paid when one of my customers makes a purchase?

We will help you set up the native Shopify Payments functionality. All payments received will be directly deposited into your connected bank account. 

How do I pay my A24 Consulting Transaction fees?

Transaction fees are automatically transferred to A24 Consulting weekly using the Shopify Bill Pay functionality.

How do I pay the A24 Consulting Suppliers?

Supplier payments are automatically forwarded to suppliers via the Shopify Collective functionality.

Who sets prices for products in the Certified Shopify Online Garden Center?

The Suppliers set the prices.

May I run my own sales or provide my own discounts for my Certified Shopify Online Garden Center?

No, sales will be determined by the Suppliers and the A24 Consulting administration with notification given to participating IGCs for advanced in-store coordination. Sales and promotions will be limited and primarily focused around end-of-season promotions. This model is not built to provide bargains. It is built to provide top quality product and excellent, convenient service.

What happens if a customer brings an item they purchased online to the store for a return?

You will have a dedicated store phone number and email to reach your customer service representatives who will facilitate the return or refund transaction. We encourage retailers to place this information near registers for employees to easily find it.

What happens if I have a question about my A24 Consulting Shopify website, billing, or other administrative questions?

Please email joan@a24-consulting.com. We will return your email within 24 business hours Monday-Friday 10am-7pm Eastern.

What do my customers do if they have trouble placing an order via my online store?

They may send an email to the dedicated customer support team for your online store or call your dedicated customer support phone number for your online store for assistance placing their order.

Can I customize my online store?

We will work with you to customize your shop to reflect your brand colors and logo.

Can I choose which products show in my online store?

No, the products will be merchandised in your shop according to our carefully curated merchandise plan.

What happens if something cannot be shipped to my state?

There will be a notice at the product level listing restrictions and customers in restricted zip codes will not be able to check out.

Will my garden center's branding be included?

Yes! Your branding, in the form of your logo and your brand colors will be included on your website and on every email sent from your Certified Shopify Online Garden Center managed marketing account.

May I share links to my Certified Shopify Online Garden Center on my social media and other communications?

Yes! In fact, we encourage that! The more you share links to your shop, the more you will sell and the bigger impact your store will have on your bottom line. However, our managed marketing program is designed to give you a nice revenue bump without any work on your part once setup is complete.

Will the managed marketing emails to my customers look like they're coming from me?

Yes! We will help you authenticate your sending address for your Bloomreach managed marketing account.

Can my customers unsubscribe from marketing emails and stay on my own self-managed newsletter list?

Yes, they sure can! 

Do all consumers receive the exact same email each week?

Yes and no. The weekly marketing emails will be tailored to large US regions encompassing individual garden centers. It doesn't make any sense to sell tomato plants to people in Dallas and Minneapolis at the same time, so we won't. 

Do you own my email addresses?

We do not! You own your email addresses and we will not rent, sell, or use those email addresses for anything other than marketing to your customers for you. 

Can I choose what topics the emails are about?

No, the A24 Consulting staff (We are all horticulturists!) will be carefully planning the editorial calendar to reflect products that are timely for use in the area the emails are sent. The way you get such great pricing on managed marketing is that we are able to use technology to share the assets and the cost. The emails will be seasonally appropriate.

How will I know what each week's email is going to be about?

We have an editorial calendar you can view at any time to see the planned marketing.

Will A24 Consulting be sending customers how-to information?

No we will not send how-to info. YOU are the experts in the nuances of your area and we want you to stay in that position. The Certified Shopify Online Garden Center is primarily a managed ecommerce solution for you to extend your sales reach and not an educational platform.

What happens if there is a vendor I would like to add to my online store?

Submit their info to us at vanessa@a24-consulting.com. We will periodically review our supplier network to vet new suppliers.

Why is A24 Consulting using Shopify for this project and not something else?

Shopify is a large, internationally used, well-funded, well-supported and stable commerce platform that is constantly researching and building new solutions for businesses. By using their "out of the box" functionality, we save costs that we can pass along to you. We also ensure that you have the best, most functional ecommerce solution available in consumer horticulture.

Why is A24 Consulting using Bloomreach for managed marketing and not something else?

Bloomreach solutions are on the cutting edge of ecommerce marketing and omnichannel experience. Their integrations with Shopify will give you the best marketing product available today. 

Can I move all of my email marketing and newsletters to Bloomreach? 

At this time, most likely no. Bloomreach is an enterprise level solution that is available by invitation only.

This seems complicated for the owners of A24 Consulting. Why are you doing it?

We are building this solution because we care deeply about the individual and family-owned businesses in the horticulture industry. We care about the people working in the businesses and we care about the impact those businesses have in their communities. We also have decades of experience with the challenges faced by these businesses and want to make life easier and more sustainable for garden retail owners. We want our industry to keep growing, and in order for it to do so, owning and running a garden retail business must be more profitable and easier to manage. Our ecommerce solution will provide more revenue with relatively low inputs as one way to work toward that sustainability.

We are doing this to reverse the loss of local businesses and encourage new people to join the garden retail vertical.