We Asked
- How does your planned Q4 budget for plants and holiday decor compare to previous years?
Consumers Answered
For fall gardening, 39.33% of respondents expect to maintain or increase their spending, with 15.61% planning to spend more. While 41.79% foresee spending less, it’s clear that nearly 30% of consumers remain steady, reflecting continued interest in enhancing their outdoor spaces as the season changes.
Houseplants remain a steady category, with 37.36% of respondents planning to keep or increase their spending.
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While 41.86% expect to spend less, the core group of indoor plant buyers remains a strong focus for garden centers. With a notable 20.78% not buying houseplants, this is a potential area for targeted engagement and marketing.
When it comes to holiday spending, Halloween and Thanksgiving purchases appear more conservative, but there’s still interest. For Halloween, 11.9% plan to spend more, while 18.59% expect to spend the same, giving retailers a reason to stock popular items. Similarly, Thanksgiving spending expectations see 12.55% anticipating spending more, and 19.52% the same, ensuring that festive decorating remains on shoppers’ radar.
Christmas and other holiday spending offers encouraging signs, with 14.03% expecting to spend more and 29.28% planning to maintain their current level of holiday purchases. Though some respondents are tightening their holiday budgets, there’s still a solid base of consumers engaging in seasonal decorating.
Key Takeaways:
- Steady Core of Gardeners: Across all categories, there’s a consistent group of customers maintaining or increasing their spending. This core segment presents a reliable opportunity for garden retailers to continue catering to essential gardening and seasonal decorating needs.
- Opportunities in Fall Gardening: With nearly 40% planning to spend the same or more on fall gardening, retailers can tap into this seasonal interest through targeted promotions and essential gardening supplies.
- Holiday Spending Still Holds Potential: While some shoppers are scaling back, a significant number still plan to spend on holiday decorations, particularly for Christmas. Focusing on key products and creative merchandising strategies can help garden centers attract both value-conscious and enthusiastic buyers.
By recognizing both cautious spending behaviors and the segments ready to invest, garden retailers can take advantage of the opportunities this Q4 season brings.
How does your planned Q4 budget for plants and holiday decor compare to previous years?
If the economy weakens, how will you adjust your spending on the following garden items?(by Household Income)
Notes on Methodology & Survey Design
Survey respondents for this question had previously indicated they were buyers of plants for their outdoor space and subsequently been disqualified if they indicated they were not. This means there’s an unknown-sized segment of people who are only fall/holiday customers at garden retailers.
We opted to include this question in a survery for garden-item customers for the sake of efficiency, and firmly believe the results are statistically valid, despite this segment of fall-only customers being excluded.
