December 16, 2015
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Outdoor Furniture Market Projected to Finish the Year Up 4.5%
In a study performed by Casual Living, the outdoor market will have total sales of nearly $6.9 billion for 2015, up 4.5% over 2014's $6.6 billion. This is good news for the furniture industry and economy as 2014 saw a 3.9% increase while 2013 only saw a 1.3% increase. Leading the way are grills which hold a 36% share of the market followed closely by dining sets at 30%. Other important categories include chat groups with a 16% market share, shading with a 9% market share, and other seating options with a 5% share of the outdoor furniture market.
Grill sales are projected to total $2.5 billion for 2015, up 4.6% from 2014's $2.39 billion. Dining sets will reach $2.1 billion, up 3.3% from last year's $2.03 billion. The largest jump came from chat groups whose sales are up 6.4% over last year, they are projected to reach $1.09 billion for 2015. Shading also experienced a big boost with projected sales to reach $592 million, a 5% jump from 2014's $564 million.
This year, 4% of all American households either have or plan to purchase an outdoor dining set, that translates to roughly 4.7 million households, with the median price point for a new set being $150. By region, dining sets are most popular in the Midwest where 4.4% of households purchased a new set this year, followed closely by the West where the number was 4.3%, in both these regions the median price point on a set was $100. The South was even with the national average with 4% of households buying a new dining set but ahead of the national average with a median price point of $200. While in the Northeast only 3.2% of households bought a new dining set, those that did spent more money with a median price tag of $300. When it comes to what people are looking for in a dining set, the most important feature is price, this is especially true in the Midwest where 78% of consumers mention price as an important feature. Price is also the most important feature in the West where 62% of consumers look at it, and in the South where 59% of consumers consider it. The other important features in these three regions are quality and durability as well as style and design. In the Northeast where 57% of consumers consider price an important feature, it falls behind quality and durability which is important to 71% of consumers and style and design which is important to 79% of consumers, perhaps explaining why fewer people in the Northeast are buying outdoor dining sets but are spending more money on them. The least important feature to consumers was brand, which less than 10% of consumer find important nationwide.
Chat groups were purchased by 1.5% of American households this year, which translates to 1.7 million households with a median price tag of $300. However, unlike dining sets, the richer you are, the more you spend on a chat group. For households making less than $100,000 a year, the median price for a chat group was $225. For households making between $100-150 thousand, the median price jumps up to $1500, and for those making over $150,000 the median price is $2325. While these affluent households might only account for 19% of the households that purchased a chat group, they account for 65% of dollars spent on them. For these affluent buyers, nearly all of them are consider the style and design to be the most important factor when purchasing a chat group. For middle and lower income households quality and durability along with price are the most important factors in choosing a chat group.
While these cold winter months may not be the best time for the casual furniture industry, they offer suppliers the time they need to prepare themselves for the busy season ahead of them. If you are have seasonal cash flow problems, or you are experiencing higher sales volumes and need help keeping up with higher demand, now would be a great time to give DSA Factors a call at 773-248-9000. We have been factoring for the furniture industry since 1986 and have the experience and know-how you need to take your business to the next level.
