Progress Report No. 73 JUL February, 1959
AGRICULTURA L E XPERI E 4' ATION
of The Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala.
E. V. SMITH, Director
EFFECTS 0 CONTAINERS AZALEA SALES
JAMES W. PATE* and TOK FURUTA
Department of Horticulture
EACH 
YEAR 
people 
engaged 
in industry 
search
for ways to sell more products. Packaging has
developed into tremendous importance. It is not
enough, however, to simply package a product.
Research conducted reveals that colors used, de-
signs, and even shapes of packages definitely
influence the sale of a product.
Container-grown plants are displayed as
"packaged" plants by some nurserymen. If these
are package plants, a logical question is: Does
the style and color of containers influence the
sale of the plants? Tests were conducted at the
API Agricultural Experiment Station from January
to July 1957 to determine the answer to this
question.
Materials and Methods
Azaleas were selected for 
these tests and
varieties used were Hexe (scarlet flowers) and
Pink Pericat (deep rose flowers). Different types
of metal containers used and their colors were:
Plantainer, green; Lerio, green; No. 10 cans, un-
treated; Robell, green; and Robell, black. Plants
of each variety in different containers were
graded and placed in retail sales yards. These
yards were in Columbus, Georgia, and Montgom-
ery, Alabama.
In Columbus, containers were placed along
side a drive leading 
from the sales 
office to a sale
area for shrubs. Traffic was heavy in this area.
Initially the plants were offered at 77 cents each.
This price was actually lower than that of similar
plants in the nursery. After approximately 
one-
* Resigned.
half the plants were sold, the remaining ones were
offered at one-half price.
In Montgomery, the containers were placed
on the ground and on a rack to be clearly visible.
The location was near the sales office at the end
of a drive. The display could be seen as customers
entered the establishment. Plants were offered
at 69 cents each throughout the test.
A printed sales tag listed the plant name, price
and description of the variety. Clerks in both
establishments were instructed, whenever possi-
ble, to allow customers to select their own plants.
Results
The appearance of containers during the test
and rate of accumulated sales are presented in
Tables 1 and 2. Results showed the best appear-
ing container to be Plantainer. The color had
faded but otherwise the condition was good. In
descending order the other containers were:
Lerio, No. 10, Robell green, and Robell black.
The container apparently had little influence on
sale of products.
TABLE 1. KIND OF CONTAINER
AND CONDITION WHEN SOLD
Container Color Condition
Plantainer Green Color faded; otherwise excellent.
Lerio Green Color good with few rust spots.
No holes in side of can.
No. 10 Untreated Rusty, with few holes, especially
at the soil line.
Robell Green Poor, rusted at soil 
line and
around base.
Robell Black Same as Green.
As many or more plants in poor containers
(containers that had deteriorated and were poor
in appearance) as in the better looking containers
were sold. This held true regardless of whether
the containers were seen.
Conclusions and Summary
These tests were conducted because of differ-
ences of opinion among retail nurserymen con-
cerning the effect of containers on sales of plants.
Results indicate that containers did not influence
sales of plants. The best looking container was
the Plantainer as it held the original color and
had not rusted. Actually more plants in some of
the other containers were sold. The differences
were not large enough to be a reliable measure of
differences in preferences.
This conclusion is further borne out by obser-
vations during the tests. While the clerks were
instructed to allow customers to select plants,
many of the customers hesitated in doing so
and had clerks select the "best ones." Plants
had been graded before the test, and only uni-
form plants of equal value were sold in one loca-
tion. Customers wanted to discuss their pur-
chases, and apparently had little confidence in
their opinions and judgments. :Nursery stock is
not yet thought of as an item for complete self
service.
Customers looked only at the plants in making
their selections. The plants with open flowers
were the first to sell. This may indicate the fol-
lowing: (a) The customer in the past had bought
misrepresented plants (intentionally or accidently)
and wanted to be sure of their purchases; (b) the
customers were not familiar with varieties and did
not read the descriptions needed to become better
informed; and (c) seeing a shrub in bloom in-
creased the prospective customer's desire to pur-
chase the plant.
Many sales were maie in units of 4, either 2
of each variety in the te. ', or 4 of a kind. Land-
scape plantings by landscape architects usually
use odd numbers of plants. Since the intended
use was not determined, it is not possible to de-
scribe the reasons for buying in even numbers.
Containers were important only when buyers
intended to use them in the home or as gifts to
sick friends. However, they usually inquired
about suitable materials for wrapping the con-
tainer. The container color and type become
unimportant under these conditions. Their only
value would be to be serviceable and not mar
furniture.
Consideration was not given the appearance
of the container as adding or detracting from the
sales area. At the time of the test, sales areas
used could not be classed as a modern garden
center. The containers did not influence the
appearance of the area during the test. How-
ever, owners of modern garden centers attempt
to keep their centers neat and inviting. Here
the container would influence the appearance
of the display and customers possibly would not
purchase plants in poor appearing containers.
Container-grown plants are still relatively new
in the trade and the consumer may not be accus-
tomed to them. Results also indicated other fac-
tors needing attention when marketing nursery
stock in containers. Prospective customers expect
reliable information about plants offered for sale.
TABLE 2. COMPARATIVE RATE OF SALES OF AZALEAS ON ACCUMULATIVE PER CENT
BASIS IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF CONTAINERS AT Two LOCATIONS
Pink Pericat Hexe
Date Plantainer Lerio No. 10 Robell Robell Plantainer Lerio 
No. 10 Robell
Green Green Can Rusty Green Black Green Green Can Rusty Black
MONTGOMERY
1/14/57 0.0 0.0 8.2 0.0 2.5 7.1 
0.0 1.7 6.3
1/31/57 2.5 6.0 8.2 5.4 2.5 23.8 
11.8 20.3 12.5
2/7/57 32.5 50.0 38.8 26.1 15.4 54.7 
38.2 37.3 40.6
2/22/571 42.5 57.2 42.8 32.7 15.4 66.6 
66.6 47.5 87.5
3/19/57 20.0 28.5 42.8 32.9 30.6 47.3 
61.1 50.0 90.5
7/5/57 70.0 80.0 71.4 81.8 84.9 100.0 
100.0 100.0 100.0
COLUMBUS, GA.
3/18/57 26.8 47.2 47.0 32.4 57.6 31.7 
40.0 53.5 18.0
7/2/57 94.5 96.5 82.5 
91.8 96.8 100.0 100.0 
100.0 100.0
'Additional plants delivered here.