E-Commerce Connect is owned and operated by the team at BoomerWrangle, who administer the program end-to-end in partnership with participating garden centers. We treat e-commerce as another store location for your business, with its own operational needs, systems, and ongoing support.

Our team oversees e-commerce site support and integrations, enrolls and onboards vetted suppliers, and manages the day-to-day operations of the program. We also lead program marketing, education, and ongoing support through regular workshops, seminars, and shared resources designed specifically for independent garden centers.

To ensure transparency and alignment, we use a structured onboarding and progress-tracking system to guide and monitor each member’s e-commerce journey. This keeps timelines clear, responsibilities aligned, and progress visible at every stage. Members can access key resources, milestones, and updates through their ConnectSpace portals, so you always know where you are and what’s coming next.

Running an e-commerce store requires ongoing attention, learning, and adjustment. To support that, E-Commerce Connect provides quarterly educational seminars focused on practical e-commerce execution for garden centers. Members also stay informed through our News & Updates section, where we share supplier additions, program activity, and important developments. In addition, we encourage participation in our Facebook community, where retailers and suppliers exchange insights, ask questions, and learn from one another in real time.

Drop-shipping is a retail model that allows you to sell products online without stocking or shipping inventory yourself. Through E-Commerce Connect™—a retailer-led drop-shipping program built specifically for independent garden centers—you can sell plants and hardgoods online using a curated network of vetted growers and suppliers you already trust.

Products are listed in your Shopify or WooCommerce store under your brand. When a customer places an order, the approved supplier fulfills and ships it directly to the customer using your garden center’s name—so the customer experience remains yours from start to finish.

Beyond expanding assortment, drop-shipping also reduces labor and carrying costs. You’re not buying, watering, moving, or maintaining as much inventory on-site—allowing you to keep a tighter, more intentional in-stock mix while drop-shipping the rest. The same applies to hardgoods: not every garden center has the space to store thousands of SKUs. With suppliers like Melrose Intl. offering expansive catalogs, you can offer the selection without the storage burden.

Drop-shipping also helps remove traditional barriers like weather and seasonality. Customers can shop on their own schedule, and your online store can continue selling even when foot traffic slows, weather closes your location, or the season winds down. Many of our members are leaning into this strategy—using e-commerce and drop-shipping to stay open, relevant, and selling year-round.

The result is an endless aisle that expands reach beyond your local market, lowers operational strain, and helps independent garden centers compete where today’s customers are already shopping.

These components work together: suppliers, technology, education, marketing assets, and operational support all play a critical role in making drop-shipping successful at scale. 

BoomerWrangle serves as the program administrators and connective layer—bringing together the technology, suppliers, training, web development and ongoing support under one coordinated framework. We are deeply embedded in the independent garden center industry and uniquely positioned to manage this ecosystem. Our team understands the suppliers, the associations, and the operational realities of garden centers, and we maintain in-house technical expertise to adapt and troubleshoot in real time. That means fewer delays, faster solutions, and a program that evolves alongside the industry.

The result isn’t just access to drop-shipping—it’s a fully supported, retailer-led e-commerce operation designed to work in the real world.

The short answer is: no—and that’s not where your focus should be. E-Commerce Connect™ exists to strengthen the independent garden center industry as a whole. The real competition in online selling isn’t other local garden centers—it’s the big-box retailers and mass marketplaces that already dominate e-commerce.

Dropshipping opens the door to selling well beyond your ZIP code. The opportunity is far larger than your local market, and the “endless aisle” means customers are shopping for availability, trust, and expertise—not just proximity.

Just like brick-and-mortar stores, no two garden centers sell the same mix of plants, hardgoods, or home décor, and the same holds true online. Every e-commerce store is branded differently, merchandised differently, priced differently, and marketed in its own voice. Even when products overlap, the experience does not.

The goal isn’t to compete with one another—it’s to ensure independent garden centers can compete, collectively and confidently, in a digital landscape that’s already moving fast.

For technical issues related to connectivity or your drop-shipping catalog, please contact our technology partner, OrderEase, at helpful@orderease.com. This inbox is monitored by project managers assigned to the E-Commerce Connect program. Typical response time is 3–5 business days, so we recommend reaching out as soon as an issue is identified to avoid delays.

After your initial integration, it’s important to note that not all connectivity questions stem from OrderEase. In many cases, issues are related to e-commerce platform settings (such as Shopify or WooCommerce configurations) that may need adjustment. We frequently find these situations are resolved by reviewing store-level settings rather than the dropshipping connection itself.

For members who do not have an existing site, we work with a Shopify developer who builds stores as part of onboarding. That developer can also assist with post-launch troubleshooting or configuration support if needed. Please note that developer assistance outside of onboarding may incur additional costs. 

It depends on your current setup. If you already have an existing e-commerce site, once program fees are paid and supplier applications are approved, we move directly into integration. If you don’t yet have an e-commerce site, we’ll connect you with our Shopify or WooCommerce developer to get your store built first, then complete the integration. We meet each garden center where they are from a technology standpoint.

For those interested in deeper system connectivity, POS integration is available as an optional add-on to more tightly connect your e-commerce store with your in-store systems. Most members do not require POS integration; however, when selected, POS integrations typically take an additional 2–3 weeks and may take longer depending on the complexity of your POS system. Additional costs apply.

While most implementations stay within the expected timeframe, occasionally factors outside of our control—such as supplier approvals, third-party scheduling, platform limitations, or POS constraints—can extend timelines. We’ll communicate proactively if that happens, but it’s important to allow some flexibility.

In most cases, please plan for 4–6 weeks to get fully up and running.

Customer service is handled by you, the garden center. Refunds, delivery issues, and unhappy customers are managed at the store level because you control the website, supplier selection, product and plant mix, categories, and pricing. The customer relationship is between your garden center and the shopper—if something goes wrong, they will contact your store directly.

We strongly recommend assigning a dedicated e-commerce point person at your garden center. When an issue arises, that person will work directly with the appropriate supplier contact to address the problem and set expectations with the customer. This approach keeps you in control of the experience while ensuring issues are resolved quickly and professionally. Work with your supplier to discuss any credit or refunds as needed.

Most retailers start by using the supplier’s suggested MSRP, which is available to make pricing simple and fast. This approach works well out of the gate and keeps pricing consistent while you get comfortable selling online.

From there, many retailers adjust pricing by category, seasonality, or product popularity—marking up items that move faster, are in high demand, or are harder to source. You have full control over pricing and can mark up products as you see fit, as long as the supplier is paid their agreed-upon cost. Margin and profit are entirely determined on your end. We encourage you to review other members’ online stores for real-world pricing examples and to join our Google Group email list to exchange ideas, strategies, and insights with fellow retailers.

Because customers may purchase from anywhere in the U.S., retailers are encouraged to price strategically — not solely based on local in-store pricing. Consider broader market conditions, shipping distances, product availability, and national competition when setting prices.

E-Commerce Connect™ is a program that provides far more than just product access. Membership fees support the infrastructure, services, and ongoing management required to operate a national dropshipping network for independent garden centers.

Your membership includes:

• Supplier onboarding and integrations

• Retailer onboarding and integrations

• Technology coordination with our platform partners

• Program management and support

• Marketing assets, templates, and promotional campaigns (including Hot Buys)

• Education, training, and workshops

• Expansion of new suppliers and product categories

• Strategic partnership that support compliance, operations and network growth.
  
  

The $750 annual fee ensures the drop-shipping program continues to grow, add value, and operate smoothly so retailers can offer an “endless aisle” without building these capabilities on their own.

Workshops and seminars are part of the E-Commerce Connect™ Program—because tools without education don’t move the needle.

Our sessions are designed specifically for independent garden centers focused on real-world execution, including launching and growing your online store, drop-shipping best practices, supplier education, marketing workflows, and operational expectations.

We aim to provide quarterly workshops to support your success within our drop-shipping program. 

Take a moment to visit our latest workshop -  Optimized to Sell: SEO Strategy for Growing Online, where members got to understand what SEO really entails and how it impacts their online listings.

We provide links to Shopify and WooCommerce’s own support resources for garden centers managing their sites in-house. These can be found under Marketing Support → Support Learning.

We do not provide platform training or act as your web developer. Unless you choose to hire one of our partner developer teams to build or maintain your site, most website-related responsibilities—including store settings, customizations, and troubleshooting—remain with you or your chosen web developer.

These links are intended to point you in the right direction when questions arise around your store settings. Business decisions—such as sales tax setup, business tax collection, and how your online store is structured—are your responsibility to establish, just as they would be when opening a brick-and-mortar location. The only difference is that you’re now operating that business online.

It depends on the supplier. Some growers include shipping in the landed cost to keep pricing simple, while others charge shipping separately. As the program continues to grow, we actively encourage both existing and new suppliers to include shipping whenever possible to simplify pricing and create a smoother experience for retailers and customers.

For example: Willoway Nurseries and Melrose include shipping in their landed price, so you can apply the suggested MSRP or adjust your profit margin as desired. TDI charges a flat $10 shipping fee, which should be added on top of the landed cost when setting your online retail price.

Use the contacts below when you need to submit your universal credit application and anytime you have an order issue to resolve (damaged shipment, missing items, delivery problems, etc.). When emailing, please use this subject line format so your message is routed correctly:

• • Melrose Intl: Hannah Riney — hannahr@melroseintl.com

  • Willoway Nurseries: Kelly Kall — kkall@wwninc.com

  • Central Florida Ferns & Foliage: Matt Roberts — matt@cfferns.com

  • TDI Brands: Holly Mundy — hmundy@tdibrands.com

  • Natorp's Nursery - Alex Goewey - agoewey@natorp.com

We are currently onboarding and adding more suppliers into our program, their contacts will be provided when their drop ship catalog goes live! 

E-Commerce Connect™ works exclusively with vetted suppliers—many of whom you already purchase from for your brick-and-mortar business. These are established, trusted brands in the garden industry with proven fulfillment, packaging, and quality standards, not anonymous online sellers. 

Our suppliers use professional shipping carriers and bring years of drop-shipping experience, with clear processes in place to ensure products are packaged properly, handled with care, and delivered in good condition. While occasional shipping issues can occur in any fulfillment model, repeated or systemic problems are uncommon.

We encourage you to reach out to suppliers directly to learn more about their offerings. For efficiency, please refer to the correct point of contact for each supplier. Sending inquiries to a general inbox can slow response times; designated contacts are assigned specifically to support E-Commerce Connect™ members and are best equipped to answer your questions quickly and accurately.

The customer completes their purchase directly on your e-commerce website (Shopify or WooCommerce), and payment is collected by you at checkout. The sale is yours—you control the pricing, the customer relationship, and the transaction.

After the order is fulfilled, the supplier invoices you for the landed cost based on the terms you’ve established with them (Net 15, Net 30, or credit card on file). You keep the difference between what the customer paid and the supplier’s landed cost.

Example 1: Supplier with shipping included (Willoway Nurseries) 

The customer purchases a plant on your e-commerce website for $35. Willoway’s landed cost is $25, which already includes shipping. Willoway invoices you $25, and you keep the $10 difference as your gross profit.

Example 2: Supplier with shipping charged separately (TDI Brands) 

The supplier’s product cost is $25, with an additional $10 shipping fee. To maintain a $10 profit, you may choose to price the product at $45 on your website. The customer pays $45 at checkout. The supplier then invoices you $35 total ($25 product + $10 shipping), and you retain $10 as your gross profit.

E-Commerce Connect was launched in May 2025 with a long-term vision to build a balanced, high-quality supplier network across all major categories. Our near-term goal is to establish 2–5 trusted suppliers per category, giving garden centers real choice in what they sell online, how they price, and which partners best align with their brand.

As the program grows, we will continue expanding categories thoughtfully—prioritizing quality, reliability, and suppliers who are committed to delivering a great customer experience on behalf of independent garden centers. Every supplier is vetted with the same standard in mind: protecting your reputation, strengthening customer trust, and ensuring your online store feels like a natural extension of your in-store experience.

We’re genuinely glad you want to help grow the supplier network. E-Commerce Connect™ is built on trusted, established relationships, and referrals from our garden centers are one of the best ways to identify strong supplier partners. We do carefully vet every supplier to ensure quality, reliability, and a good fit for the program.

If you have a vendor you’d like to recommend, send an intro email to your supplier contact expressing your interest in dropshipping their plants or hardgoods through your online store, and cc us so we can start the conversation and guide next steps. 

Contact: John Kennedy @ john@boomerwrangle.com

E-Commerce Connect™ is retailer-led, meaning each garden center controls its own suppliers, assortment, and product mix.

Suppliers make SKUs available, but retailers decide what to sell, when to list or remove items, and how products are presented on their site.

For example, some may sell Melrose but not TDI, others TDI but not Melrose — and some carry both. In houseplants, one retailer may feature Central Florida Ferns & Foliage while another chooses a different grower. 

Each garden center actively manages their own online offerings, so product selection will vary by retailer based on their brand, customers, and sourcing preferences.

Hot Buys are limited-time promotional offers from participating suppliers featuring special pricing on select plants and products to help retailers drive sales and move inventory. These discounts are designed to be passed along to customers to create strong value and urgency. 

Retailers can promote Hot Buys using ready-to-use marketing templates or their own campaigns. The savings are updated in the drop ship catalog already under each suppliers category listing titled, "HOT BUYS". 

You can also stay up to date with our E-Commerce Connect Calendar to get updates on discounts, deals and webinar updates.

Please stay connected with program updates by visiting our website and/or requesting to be added to our retailer and supplier announcement e-list.

When new drop-ship suppliers become available, you will receive email instructions outlining the steps required to establish credit and connectivity. This communication will include the supplier’s point of contact and where to submit your universal credit application for consideration.

You can also log into your OrderEase account and check “Recommended Suppliers.” As new drop-ship catalogs go live, you will have the opportunity to request connections.

When submitting a connection request, please email your universal credit application to the supplier in advance to help expedite approval.

Once the supplier approves your application, they will accept the connection request and their drop-ship catalog will become available within your OrderEase account.

Yes. Even if you already purchase from a supplier through a buying group such as Master Nurseries, a separate dropshipping account must be established for participation in the E-Commerce Connect program. All suppliers require a Universal Credit Application to create this account.

The reason is that dropshipping transactions use a different pricing structure than traditional wholesale purchasing. Your existing account is set up for wholesale inventory that you bring into your store. The dropshipping catalog, however, is structured around retail pricing for the end customer, since the supplier is shipping directly to your customer and you retain the net profit from the sale.

Once the supplier receives and approves your Universal Credit Application, they will create your dropshipping account and typically establish payment terms (such as Net 15, Net 30 or credit card on file). After the account is set up, Andrew can connect your OrderEase account to the supplier’s dropshipping catalog.

Yes. The growth of the E-Commerce Connect supplier network is largely driven by retailer demand. As more garden centers participate and request specific vendors, it creates a strong incentive for additional suppliers to join the program.

In addition, we are actively in discussions with several new suppliers to expand the network. This includes companies in both rooted plant material as well as hardgoods and fertilizers, helping retailers continue to broaden their online assortment without increasing in-store inventory.

Yes. We are actively working with our growers to introduce pre-order capabilities within the program so their dropshipping catalogs can remain available year-round.

This allows retailers to continue selling during the off-season and generate revenue even when plants are not actively being shipped. Pre-orders will flow through the system to the grower, and the orders will be fulfilled once the grower’s shipping season begins.

A shipping calendar will be provided on the E-Commerce Connect website so retailers know when items will begin shipping. Independent Garden Centers should also display this timing on their Shopify or WooCommerce product pages so customers clearly understand when to expect delivery.

If you decide to sell both OrderEase dropship products and your own in-store products on Shopify, this can be handled by setting up two different inventory locations.

One location can be named “Dropship”, which would contain the products coming from OrderEase. The second location can be named “Physical”, representing the inventory you carry at your store.

Within Shopify, you can manage inventory levels separately for each location and configure shipping settings based on the location. You can also enable or disable in-store pickup per location, allowing customers to pick up items only from your physical inventory while dropship items are shipped directly to them.

Yes. Our middleware, OrderEase provides a robust API layer that allows you to programmatically access SKUs, product descriptions, high-resolution imagery, pricing, and availability.

For retailers running custom eCommerce environments, true headless integrations are supported. This allows you to maintain full control of your storefront experience while OrderEase powers the product data, pricing, and order orchestration behind the scenes.

Comprehensive API documentation and technical resources are available for your development team.

Our middleware, OrderEase acts as the standardization layer that keeps supplier availability aligned with your storefront in near real time. Inventory is pulled directly from each supplier’s system and synchronized across connected eCommerce retailer platforms.

As items sell, inventory counts are updated and pushed across the network, helping protect margins, prevent overselling, and maintain a reliable customer experience.

Delivery times can vary by supplier and by season, particularly for live nursery stock.

Our middleware, OrderEase ensures orders move quickly and accurately through the supply chain; however, specific click-to-ship timelines are determined by each individual supplier. Retailers should confirm expected fulfillment and shipping times directly with the supplier they are working with as the relationship is established. Shipping and Tracking information is located within your account.

No. Only transaction-specific information, such as shipping details needed to fulfill an order, is shared with the supplier.

Your broader customer database remains your property. In many cases, suppliers also periodically purge end-consumer data to further reinforce retailer confidence in customer privacy and data protection.

Yes. Suppliers encourage retailers to use approved images and product descriptions to help maintain brand consistency across the network. Retailers have the flexibility to use supplier content as provided, modify descriptions within OrderEase, or further customize the content directly within their own storefront to better match their brand voice and customer experience.