New and exclusive research from our Consumer Insights Now survey polled nearly 2,000 people to find out their buying habits for the second half of 2024.
The research highlights generational trends, buying channels and much more that you can you use to plan for the remainder of the year and next season. Here are some notable insights from the outdoor section of the research.
- Big-box stores and Amazon make up the largest buying channels. The most notable finding, in my opinion, is where shoppers plan to buy. A whopping 47% plan to buy from a big-box store, a number that rose from 39% last year. Amazon took 22% of the pie — which also doubled since last year’s CIN research. This means that together they are selling nearly 70% of all outdoor furniture.
That is going to continue taking business away from national chains and independent stores, which came in at 13% and 10%, respectively. But it’s also a sign of generational changes. - Generation Z leads the way in planned buys. 20% of Gen Z buyers, ages 18-27, are planning to buy outdoor furniture in the second half of the year. That number is considerably larger than baby boomers, of which 12% plan to buy in the second half, or even Gen X, of which only 14% plan to buy. Younger and older millennials both came in at 16%, which combined makes a significant 32%
As baby boomers and Gen X are the two wealthiest generations, this signals a change in the typical outdoor shopper. Gen Z and millennials are the largest generations looking to buy, but because they don’t yet have the money to afford high-end outdoor furniture, they are turning to stores that give them product they can see themselves buying. - 50% plan to spend between $100 and $500. This is another signal that the buyers most planning to buy outdoor this year are younger consumers, as they are looking to spend $500 at the most. There are single outdoor chairs that cost more than that. There will always be a place for high-end outdoor furniture and a great salesperson can sell it, but it’s going to take more effort than ever to get customers through your doors.
- 15% of furniture shoppers are in the market for outdoor furniture between July and December 2024. This number has stayed consistent year after year in our research, which is good because the numbers didn’t drop despite it being an election year. But it’s still a small percentage, and there’s room for growth. Outdoor furniture will never be as popular as indoor furnishings, but these numbers could rise as more full-line manufacturers get serious about outdoor and big-box stores bring more attention to the category.
