Author: Victor Texcucano, Content Coordinator, RAB
Spring is in the air. The weather is warming up, and flowers are blooming. It’s finally that time of the year when we can enjoy the outdoors. Now’s the time when people will begin lawn maintenance, growing fruits and veggies or just relaxing on their porch.
As is typical every spring, the sounds of lawn mowers, weed eaters and hedge trimmers are filling neighborhoods all over the U.S.
Landscaping is deeply ingrained in American culture. According to IBISWorld, the market size of landscaping services in the U.S. reached $128.8 billion in 2022, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) concluded that the average annual expenditure on gardening/lawn care services reached $193.3 in 2021.
Whether consumers plan to hire someone to do the work on their home or if they plan on doing so themselves, people will definitely maintain their properties. They do this either to increase their home’s curb appeal or to merely to “keep up with the Joneses.” BLS statistics showed that in 2021, the average annual expenditure on lawn and garden supplies reached $125.04. Radio can promote both landscaping businesses or lawn and garden retailers who sell the products and tools to complete this task.
Radio reaches 86% of consumers who used a landscaping or property maintenance service in the past 12 months. It also reaches 88% of consumers who purchased any kind of lawn mower (gas, electric, riding, walk-behind) or any kind of trimmer/edger (gas or electric), per Scarborough data.
Another activity lawn and garden retailers should promote is gardening. Gardening has become an increasingly popular past time in the U.S. According to the Mayo Clinic, gardening offers many benefits, from healthier eating to physical exercise and mental benefits like social connections, stress relief or even just spending more time outdoors and away from technology. In one of the few positives of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns exacerbated gardening among many Americans, as people were often stuck at home.
Millennials are a demographic that is becoming more interested in gardening. Post COVID-19 lockdowns, 74.3% of millennials said their interest in gardening increased, compared to 59.5% of all respondents. The 2023 Gardening Insights Survey by Axiom maintains this statistic, finding that Gen Z (48.3%) and millennials (47.6%) plan to increase their spending on gardening in 2023 versus 2022, more so than other age groups.
Speaking of healthy eating, inflation has tightly gripped the economy, causing food prices to steadily increase – as much as 10% in 2022, creating a trend known as ‘survival gardens.’ Gardening can be a way for consumers to save money at the supermarket. If the right steps are taken, growing one’s own food can be cost-effective. Retailers may want to share gardening tips in their stores or in their advertising.
Whether consumers want to add flowers or edible plants to their gardens or at home, lawn and garden retailers will want to promote all their gardening supplies this spring. Radio reaches 87% of consumers who purchased gardening supplies in the past 12 months.
Whether it’s landscaping businesses or lawn and garden retailers, now is the perfect time for these retailers to plant the seed by reaching out to consumers interested in enjoying time in their yards.