India is no way different from other countries where Corona Pandemic COVID 19 has affected. Professionals who are associated with landscaping, gardening and horticulture are worried about their future. They are worried about changing trends, business pattern and consumer behaviour after settling down of this pandemic.

India is the country where this sector has been evolving since recent past and professional were gearing up to take this sector to the next level. This pandemic is a strong blow to the upcoming industry. Given below are some of the highlighting trends, pattern and consumer behaviour in this changing environment:

Localization of business: This is for sure that landscaping will become a more local business after COVID 19 due to restricted travelling, transport and imports. The same has been evident from recent practices of frequently changing rules and regulation in different domain of life and business.

In such circumstances, clients will rely more on local products and services. Organizations having a national operation will have to start full-fledged branch operations for smooth functioning.

Specialization: Specialization of products and services will be in demand. If you are in the business of landscaping, gardening, horticulture and allied field, you have to offer specialized products and services. This specialization is needed to differentiate your business from others. Keeping this change in front, water engineers, landscape engineers, light engineers and soil experts are a good example to cite.

Minimalistic Approach: Economy of the entire world will fall drastically after the pandemic of COVID 19 and lifestyle of people will also change in a similar rhythm. People will prefer living on minimal requirements, so your client will try your product and services if it is innovative, necessary and urgent. So, you have to run your business on the same parameters where you can give your best complying with the demands of your customer.

Sustainable Landscaping: Sustainable landscaping is a very broader term but precisely it is resource-efficient landscaping which will emerge as a rising trend in coming days. Your customer will prefer a design which will consume less water, less energy and less manure, fertilizers etc to keep a dog watch on maintenance cost. And this is not limited to design and maintenance only but to build as well. 

A paradigm shift in requirement:  The world has experienced such a crisis after 100 years when Spanish Flu grabbed the world in 1918 towards the end of World War 1. This pandemic will also change the basic requirement of people from all walks of life. An infield of landscaping too, there will be a paradigm shift in requirements by the client.

It has been observed that people have become health-conscious, so the shift will be there from aesthetic design to functional design where medicinal garden, herbal garden, vegetable garden like functional elements will become must incorporating elements. 

Small space creative gardening: Lockdown during pandemic has brought everyone back home. People have started running their business from home, people who are into the job started working from home and this will be New Culture in the coming decade.

So, everyone is looking for a cosy place to work, communicate and chat online. So, the demand for small space garden will be higher after COVID 19. Creativity will dominate in creating such garden and organizations that are rending such services will have a better future.

Price and Cost Correction: Pricing and Costing of products and services will take a new turn towards correction. In the recent past, due to high demands, manufacturers, distributors and many more traders had started quoting illogical pricing. So, now after COVID 19, the market is one level field for all stakeholders. In such a situation, the market corrects itself on pricing and cost parameters. And, quality and service guarantee will be a core competency for your survival. 

New Consumer Base / Clientele: During lockdown in India, people from all walks of life have become home-bound and brought them close to their garden, small or big. As per the source, interest towards greenery, trees, shrubs and garden-related has gone up and people browsed the most about it. Therefore, the new customer base has been created who might become our customer in future.  So, if you are in such a business you should take the digital route to promote your product and services to get attention online.

High demand for Garden Management Services:  Homebound professionals now got to know the importance of their garden in lockdown. Earlier, they considered this as ornamental decoration for their social status but this COVID 19 pandemic has proved that green wealth of your property has “Appreciation Value” in comparison to your non-living assets. Your Sofa worth Rs.5 Lakhs will depreciate to Rs.5000/- in ten years and your sown mango plant worth Rs.200/- will appreciate and will give you mango every summer for your good health. So services related to garden maintenance will definitely boom in coming days.

Organised Business Module: Landscape, Garden and Horticulture sector is much unorganized in India. Now it’s high time to take this sector to the next level with the organized format. Corporatization of landscape developers, garden contractors and consultants will become a must as we all know the corporate identity of any business is the way for growth.