Garden centre chain, Dobbies, is hoping to crack the online market with a groundbreaking partnership with Ocado.

Dobbies is the UK's second biggest garden retailer, with 34 stores, including one in Cirencester.

While 40% of retail sales are online, for garden centres it is just a few per cent. The partnership with online grocery Ocado will mean Dobbies can deliver across the UK, as reported by the BBC.

Garden centres are big business, making around £4bn nationally. If Dobbies can break into the online market, chief executive Nicolas Marshall told the BBC they could be looking at £1.6bn in online sales, 10 times their annual turnover.

Here at Punchline, we like to look at our plants before we buy them. There are lots of small, independent businesses in the county offering a selection of good quality plants at competitive prices, often grown on site. So why would we need to shop online? We will always support our local businesses whenever we can.

What do you think? Would you do your garden centre shopping online? Email mark@moosemarketingandpr.co.uk