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Spring Has Sprung! Cash in on Its Arrival!

March 24, 2016

Spring has sprung folks, and it’s time to cash in on its arrival. While many of us may have had trouble adjusting to our missing hour last week, it’s also refreshing to have those extra rays of sunshine at the end of the work day. Soon we’ll all be breaking out our lawn mowers to tackle those long blades of grass that seem to have sprung up overnight, and our weekly mowing sessions will begin. In addition, the smell of mulch will fill the air as neighbors start planting, gardening, and working on other landscaping projects.

According to the National Gardening Association, approximately 70% of U.S. homes participate in some form of gardening, and each year Americans spend approximately $40 billion on lawn and garden products!

  • So where do homeowners do most of their spring lawn and garden shopping? A 2015 Field Agent study found that:
  • 74% Large home improvement centers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s
  • 14% Mass merchandisers such as Walmart
  • 7% Local gardens and nurseries
  • 5% Hardware stores (nationally branded and independent)

In addition, only 7% of respondents indicated that they purchase lawn and garden products from just one store. 40% typically visit two stores, 37% will shop at three, and 16% will visit four or more.

Overall ad spending in all media by nurseries/lawn and garden stores totaled $85.3 million in 2014. Companies specializing in lawn and garden pest control products spent $37.4 million the same year. (Kantar Media, 2015)

Garden Center magazine found that 35% of garden center retailers used radio ads to market their business during the previous year. Are you getting your fair share of these advertising dollars? If not, here are some seeds to start sowing with advertisers

Every week Radio reaches:

  • 83.2% of Adults 18+ who did any type of outdoor gardening in the past year.
  • 85.4% of Adults 18+ who bought any kind of lawn and garden equipment in the past year.
  • 84.0% of consumers who purchased any flowering plants, bulbs, trees, fertilizer products, or insecticides in the past year.
  • 83.5% of households that employed a lawn maintenance service.
    (GfK MRI, 2015)

These should be a great start to planting your success with lawn and garden retailers. Need more fertilizer? There are plenty of lawn and garden categories in Scarborough, and as always, Research Director, Inc. is here to help. Please don’t hesitate to contact your Research Consultant for assistance.

Oh, and by the way, April is National Lawn Care Month and National Garden Month. And something a bit closer to my heart, April is Autism Awareness month. On April 2nd, World Autism Awareness Day, millions of people, including myself, will light it up blue, wear blue, send up blue balloons, etc. in support of autism … perhaps this year I’ll plant some blue flowers!

-Karen Blanks, CRMC, Sales Research Consultant Go_Blue

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