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When shoppers think "outdoor living"...
They think first of the "big box" home center stores, survey from Unity Marketing shows

Stevens, PA June 20, 2005 - With the official end of spring and beginning of summer, the outdoor living shopping season is in full bloom. The place that shoppers turn first for their outdoor living needs are 'big box' home centers, such as Home Depot and Lowe's, according to a new study from Unity Marketing (www.unitymarketingonline.com).

"With sales of $65.8 billion in 2004, the outdoor living market for goods ($43.2 billion) and services ($22.6 billion) is huge and growing rapidly," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses - as well as the Classes. "The big box retailers are turning their marketing might to capturing a greater share of consumers' expenditures on the garden and outdoor living. With strategies tied to improved quality and diversity of garden plants, along with better trained sales staff and offering a wide selection of high quality, good value garden tools and outdoor living decoratives and accessories, the 'big boxes' are challenging the independent specialty garden centers that depend upon the loyalty of their traditional shoppers for their livelihood."

The independent garden centers won the market share 'battle' in 2004, but are losing the 'war'

Garden centers retained their market share leadership in terms of overall sales of garden goods and services in 2004, boasting 43 percent market share in outdoor living goods as compared with 32 percent market share among the 'big box' home center stores. However, when shoppers are asked where they made outdoor living purchases in the past year, some 80 percent reported shopping for plants at 'big boxes,' as compared with only 52 percent who bought plants in garden centers.

"The independent garden centers are losing their edge in the outdoor living market as shoppers turn more frequently to home center stores for their outdoor living needs. Garden centers must become more sophisticated and more knowledgeable about their core shoppers in order to maintain their loyalty and support in the coming years," Danziger explains.

About the insights contained in the Outdoor Living Market, 2005

The consumer insights study, Outdoor Living Market, 2005: Understanding and Predicting Consumers' Passion for the Outdoor Living Lifestyle, provides details of a survey among 1,000 home owners with incomes of $25,000 and above. The report reveals purchase behavior in four major categories:

Plant Materials - Overall purchase incidence, what products they buy, how much they spend, where the shop, why they buy and brand awareness and preferences.
Garden Tools, Equipment, Supplies - Overall purchase incidence, what products they buy, how much they spend, where the shop, why they buy and brand awareness and preferences.
Outdoor Living Products, such as barbecue grills, lights, fireplaces, furniture, outdoor decorative accents, ponds, pools, etc - Overall purchase incidence, what products they buy, how much they spend, where the shop, why they buy and brand awareness and preferences.
Outdoor Living Services - Overall purchase incidence, what services they buy, how much they spend and why they buy.

In addition to consumers' purchase behavior, their attitudes and motivations in outdoor living purchases are also explored, including a psychographic analysis of four distinct personalities that participate in the outdoor living market.

Also Included Is Garden Retailers' Perspective on this Marketplace

In order to help independent garden centers be more competitive in the outdoor living market, the report also includes the results of a survey among 100 of the nation's leading garden centers to provide the specialty retailers' perspective. Garden center managers were surveyed about how they perceive the emerging opportunities in the outdoor living marketplace and how they are transforming their businesses to take advantage of the opportunities. This retailer insight provides key strategic information for outdoor living marketers who primarily sell their goods to the consumer through the garden center channel.

The Outdoor Living Market, 2005 report can be ordered online.

About Pam Danziger and Unity Marketing

Pamela N. Danziger is a nationally recognized expert in consumer insights for luxury marketers, whether they sell luxuries to the masses or the 'classes.' She is president of Unity Marketing, a marketing consulting firm she founded in 1992 to unite marketers with their target markets through consumer insights. She taps consumer psychology to advise clients such as Lenox, Cartier, Herend, Spring Air, Sears, The World Gold Council, The Conference Board and American Express.

Her latest book, Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses - as well as the Classes, (Dearborn Trade Publishing, $27, hardcover) was published in January 2005. She also authored Why People Buy Things They Don't Need: Understanding and Predicting Consumer Behavior (Chicago: Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2004).

She has appeared on CNN's In the Money, CNN International, NBC's Today Show, CNBC, CBS News Sunday Morning, Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, ABC News Money Matters, NPR's Marketplace and is frequently called upon by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Demographics, Women's Wear Daily, Forbes, USA Today, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune for insight.

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