For my Week 5 Post 1 blog I reviewed the first set of
websites that belonged to Armstrong Garden Centers and Myrtle Creek Gardens.
My initial observation of the Armstrong Garden Center
(AGC) website indicated that I was about to delve deeper into a well-executed
and very modern platform. The AGC
website is commensurate with formatting associated with Instagram®
with its bright and colorful picture-laden display. There appears to be careful and deliberate determination
of prioritizing frequently used links within the website. It is immediately clear that this website supports
an organization that has multiple outlets to sell their products.
AGC emphasizes growing the capabilities of their customer
base in a manner that should lead to additional business. It appears to me that their defined customer
base are home owners interested in DIY landscape projects. The website indicates that AGC wants to
ensure that their customers are in the best position be successful with their
respective landscape ideals. There are
numerous calls for action that focus more on building confidence than pushing
for sales. Everything about the website
indicates an extremely high level of technical acumen in its execution.
The website for Myrtle Creek Gardens (MCG) is commensurate
with the community in which this business resides. Fallbrook, California is something of a “throwback”
to yesteryear town that shuns the big box stores routinely found in more urban
municipalities. MCG’s website appears to
be dated but it is functional enough that the user will not have difficulty
finding what they are looking for. MCG
emphasizes the experience of the surroundings over support for DIY
projects. There is a scarcity of calls
for action, no pressure here, as MCG is whispering an invitation to you drop in,
take a little walk, smell the roses, and when you’re done with all of that,
drop into one of their little cafes and talk with us about your experience.
The website for MCG dances to the drumbeat of the
Fallbrook community. It’s slow, charming
in its simplicity, and functional in its intended purpose.
Although both businesses sell gardening products there
isn’t likely to be much crossover between their customers. I would consider AGC to be a big box store
that competes indirectly with Home Depot, Lowe’s, and other businesses in that
genre. MCG has a target audience that is
focused on a more intimate experience that enables them to encounter old
acquaintances, occasionally meet new ones, drink a glass of chi tea, and
perhaps purchase a rake and some grass seed before leaving.