It’s Official: We’re Popular

Jennifer Polanz

This year, retailers saw an unprecedented amount of demand for garden products. Axiom Marketing, a marketing company that’s represented green industry businesses for years, recently conducted an online survey of nearly 1,200 people to gauge interest for 2021. We’ve included some key takeaway statistics here and you can download the full report for free at axiomcom.com/2021-garden-survey.

The crux of it is 86% said they would garden about the same or more in 2021, a huge number considering prior research puts the amount of new gardeners in the U.S. somewhere between 15 and 20 million.

I also asked Kathleen Hennessy of Axiom Marketing, who’s been working in our industry for more than 20 years, what these survey numbers indicate to her and where retailers should put their focus.

“One of the things I thought was most interesting about the survey was that gardeners of all age groups felt successful last season. Successful gardeners buy more plants and are open to expanding their interests,” she says. “How can we build on that? I would focus on the reasons why people garden: 55% of the people we surveyed told us they garden to create a beautiful outdoor space. That’s a very different customer from someone who just wants to grow their own tomatoes. Knowing why that person is in your store, and what their interests are, can help you make them a more successful gardener. When that happens, chances are they become a repeat customer.

“Another interesting statistic we found was that younger gardeners really are open to text messages. Retailers should be collecting and utilizing customer data to communicate before and after the sale.” GP