Lawn and Garden Supplies in the U.S., 10th Edition

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Lawn and Garden Supplies in the U.S., 10th Edition

Despite the fact that Americans love to care for their lawns and gardens, the economy and weather continued to suppress sales in the lawn and garden industry over the last five years. Packaged Facts estimates in its report, Lawn and Garden Supplies in the U.S., 10th Edition, total retail sales of the lawn & garden supplies market, consisting of fertilizers, growth media, grass seed, and pesticides at $5.7 billion in 2014. Growth media accounted for an estimated 35% of the total, pesticides 32%, fertilizers 24% and grass seed 9% of total sales.

Lawn and garden industry sales peaked at the height of the housing boom in 2005, and have been declining and trying to recover since then. The gardening market has stabilized somewhat with sales basically flat between 2010 and 2014. Packaged Facts' report, Lawn and Garden Supplies in the U.S., 10th Edition, details how L&G supplies is a mature market with lawn and garden industry sales highly dependent on the economy, housing, household formation, regulations, weather, and seasonality. Continued economic challenges have made the gardening market's recovery uneven and weather has also created fluctuations in sales year-to-year.

Forecasting future lawn and gardening sales is near impossible given so many variables. However Packaged Facts projects retail sales of the L&G supplies market will increase by a CAGR of 3% to reach $6.6 billion in 2019. Many assumptions are built into the forecast including improvement in the economy, a sustained housing recovery, and an increase in household formations. Weather will have a significant impact on the forecast and is impossible to predict. Continued drought conditions and severe water restrictions in some parts of the U.S. will likely have a negative impact on several products segments, although products that promote water efficiency can outperform.

Given the favorable conditions mentioned above, growth in the lawn and garden industry over the next five years will be higher than the past years as consumers continue to view lawn and garden care as a way to beautify their homes while maintaining and increasing home values. Growth will be driven by products that consumers find easier to use and provide added value in the form of cost or convenience. Combination products should continue to grow as will ready-to-use items that make application easier. Research from various sources shows that many consumers find it confusing to purchase and apply lawn and gardening supplies. Scotts’ research shows that of the large number of households participating in DIY lawn and garden activities 60% do not regularly buy lawn fertilizer, and 70% don’t regularly buy grass seed. Products that target garden care will likely outpace lawn care products as many consumers find gardens easier to maintain with less water. Also consumers are increasingly growing their own fruits and vegetables in suburban and urban gardens. According to Packaged Facts’ April 2015 online consumer survey the most popular reason people do outdoor gardening is to grow fruits and vegetables. Packaged Facts estimates that 60 million Americans grow edibles during the year. Forty-four percent of all outdoor gardeners in the survey said enjoying the taste of garden-fresh vegetables/fruit was their reason for gardening. A third said benefiting from the nutrition of garden-fresh vegetables/fruit, while 27% mentioned saving on buying vegetables/fruit. Increased vegetable and fruit gardening will help drive the growing demand for natural and organic products, a trend particularly popular with younger homeowners who are most concerned over the health and safety of chemical products.

Lawn and Garden Supplies in the U.S., 10th Edition details how both marketers and retailers are challenged to grow in a mature and highly competitive lawn and gardening supplies market. Marketers fight to primarily take share from each other and despite the presence of numerous competitors, sales of L&G supplies are highly concentrated in the hands of a few players. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is the market leader by a wide margin, controlling an estimated 60% of total sales in the U.S. The company is the leader in all four categories of lawn and gardening supplies: fertilizers, growth media, grass seed and pesticides. The balance of overall sales comes primarily from Central Garden & Pet Company, Spectrum Brands, Bayer AG, Kellogg Garden Products, Oldcastle, Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, and the exclusive/private label brands sold by retailers Walmart (Expert Gardener), Home Depot (Vigoro), and Lowe’s (Sta-Green).

The lawn and gardening supplies market in the U.S. is dominated by the so-called “big box” stores - mass retailers and three chains in particular: home centers Home Depot and Lowe’s, and mass merchandiser Walmart. The power of these retailers is illustrated by the fact that leading marketer Scotts Miracle-Gro generated nearly 70% of its Global Consumer segment sales in fiscal 2014 from the three chains. These so-called “big box” stores along with other mass retailers like Costco account for three quarters of lawn and garden industry supply sales with the balance mainly coming from hardware stores (True Value, Ace, Menards) and garden centers/nurseries. Challenged by the discount prices of mass retailers, hardware stores and garden centers/nurseries tend to focus on service, expertise, convenience of being local, and brands that are exclusive to the channel.

Lawn and Garden Supplies in the U.S., 10th Edition outlines the importance of omni-channel retailing which integrates computers and mobile devices with bricks-and-mortar stores, direct mail, and catalogs to provide consumers with a convenient, seamless shopping experience allowing them to research products and buy wherever, however, and whenever they want.

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