Author | Li Yanmei
Now, more and more people choose to grow flowers and plants at home, which has driven the continuous heating up of home gardening market demand. In the past few years, despite the epidemic, the mainland home gardening market has been showing a growth trend, and manufacturers and sellers have continued to innovate, from seeds to flowers, from fertilizers to appliances, various products have appeared, constantly meeting the diversified needs of consumers.
In order to understand the current situation of the mainland home gardening consumption market and analyze the factors affecting home gardening consumption, China Flower and Gardening magazine produced the "Home Flower and Garden Products Consumption Questionnaire" to collect information feedback from horticultural consumers and enthusiasts through online release. The questionnaire set up 16 questions, including the basic information of the respondent's age, gender, love of flower gardening, etc., involving the type of home gardening products purchased, the main decoration area, the purpose, way and frequency of purchase, as well as the average annual consumption amount, acceptable unit price, product demand point and color preference, etc.
In this survey, we also cooperated with brand manufacturers and sellers in the field of home gardening, such as Zhejiang Hongyue, Sichuan Spring Flower Paradise, Beijing Huaxiang Flowers, Shanghai Yunjian Huigu, Heidi's Garden, Uncle Wang who loves to grow flowers, Tasha's Garden, Sirius Moon Season, Meile Tree, Qiuyang Horticulture, German Kärcher and Alice, so that the scope of the survey is wider and the targets are more targeted.
Consumer group: young and middle-aged women are the main force
Among the 1019 valid answers, 71.74% were female and 28.26% were male, of which 30.81% were 26~35 years old, 47.30% were 36~55 years old, and about 10% were under 25 years old and over 55 years old. Respondents were mainly from Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Hubei, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces (regions and cities). According to the analysis data of user portraits, the mainstream age group of home gardening consumption users is still mainly 30 to 55 years old. In regions with high economic levels, gardening is becoming a way of life for spiritual sustenance, stress release and recreational pastime. Young and middle-aged female consumers with strong purchase desire and high spending power are the main consumers of home gardening.
Regarding the degree of love for flower gardening, 14.23% of the respondents were interested in flowers and plants, and would take the initiative to buy finished potted plants or cut flowers, but their maintenance skills were insufficient, and they belonged to the "killer" level of plants. 36.80% of people are beginners in gardening, and they regularly buy and take care of plants at home, and will buy potting soil fertilizers, tools, etc. 41.81% of people are senior lovers of horticulture, with certain horticultural knowledge, keen on flower planting or garden construction, and can teach plant knowledge to friends. It can be seen that most of the participants in this survey are gardening enthusiasts, who have become a part of their lives, have a good willingness to consume horticultural products, and maintain a higher sensitivity to new products. Their needs and preferences for products deserve the focus of manufacturers in the field of home gardening.
Purpose of consumption: The most important thing is to please yourself
Regarding the preferred floral plant planting or decoration area, 33.76% of the respondents used it to decorate the home or office desktop countertop, 41.02% chose the indoor floor space or closed balcony, 55.45% in the open balcony or outdoor terrace, and 38.27% had their own outdoor garden. In terms of the main purpose of purchasing home gardening products, 86.46% of the respondents said that it was out of personal interest, 61.92% were mainly used for home ornamental decoration, 20.90% were to improve the quality of the living environment, and only 6.08% were used to give gifts to relatives and friends. It can be seen that in the field of home gardening, consumers pay more attention to personal hobbies and decorate life, and have certain requirements for the ornamental and "appearance" of products.
"Heidi's Garden" has been ranked in the top list of Taobao potted flowers category all year round. In 2019~2021, its sales of home gardening products have maintained a growth of more than 30%, and the growth will gradually slow down in 2022 and 2023. The main consumer groups of the products are middle- and high-income people with stable living environment and high consumption power. In their view, consumers' most concerned about home gardening products is whether they like it or not, whether they are suitable for their own planting, so the products launched should have high quality, high value, and be easy to feed and use. Because of the variety and high appearance, hydrangea and the moon season can fully mobilize the emotions of flower lovers, and the choice is wide, becoming the façade of Heidi's garden.
Consumption frequency: Daily
In recent years, potted flowers and foliage plants have occupied a high market share, and consumers' preferences for plants have shown a trend of personalization and diversification. Flowering potted plants, succulents, hydroponic plants, popular tropical plants, miniature bonsai, carnivorous plants, as well as ornamental vegetables and aromatic plants for both food and appreciation, occupy a corner of the market and become the favorite of different groups of people.
Every year, flower breeding companies introduce new varieties in variety selection, and all kinds of new horticultural varieties suitable for home cultivation, such as seasonal grass flowers, bulb flowers, vine flowers, carnivorous plants, and appreciative vegetables, are constantly expanded, and consumers' choice is greatly increased.
In the survey results, 48.18% of the respondents purchased home gardening products more than 8 times in the past 1 year, and basically consumed them every month. 34.54% of the purchase frequency is 4~8 times, about quarterly purchase, 17.27% of the last 1 year consumption 3 times or less. When gardening becomes a daily hobby, people can buy gardening supplies more frequently, almost regardless of the season. In terms of consumption amount, 31.60% of the respondents spent more than 2000 yuan on home gardening products per year, 20.12% consumed 201~500 yuan per year, 19.73% consumed 501~1000 yuan per year, 16.29% consumed between 1001~2000 yuan, and the proportion of annual consumption within 200 yuan was only 12.27%. In addition to the factors that most of the respondents are gardening enthusiasts, most consumers who have "entered the pit" of home gardening are very willing to pay for their favorite products.
Price: Value for money
On the question of acceptable price of a single piece of home gardening products, 32.68% of respondents chose less than 50 yuan, and 33.07% chose 50~100 yuan. The higher the price of a single piece, the lower the willingness to consume. In the context of new consumption upgrades, consumer groups that pay attention to quality, price, brand and pursue high cost performance occupy the mainstream of the market. In the field of home gardening, "high quality and low price" and "cost performance" are the key factors recognized by many consumers. However, it is the top priority for different companies to really cultivate the "demand" of target users in the face of market segments, after all, 7.16% of people can accept a price of more than 500 yuan.
A flower friend in Shanghai, who grows flowers and vegetables on the outdoor terrace, prefers gardening tools from Jia Dingna, but the price of imported products is too high to buy often, she said that if the domestic brand can achieve similar quality and appearance, the price is more favorable, she will be very willing to buy.
Anhui Flower Yun has been making hydroponic products, which is one of the most popular product categories on the Internet. The advantages of small potted plants are that they are cheap, small in size, and easy to place, but at the same time they have low added value. Now live broadcast sales mainly rely on low prices, plant sales tend to the field, basically no middleman link, directly from farmers to consumers, profits are getting lower and lower. In the field of small potted plants, many are selling seedlings. If you make a new product, it will be quickly imitated, pulling the price to the floor. As a dealer, if it is just to fight for the price, they are really a little afraid and can't see the direction.
Category: Equal
When asked about the types of home gardening products purchased, the proportion of indoor potted flowers, pots, flower soil, flower fertilizer, outdoor garden plants, cut flowers, garden tools, decorations, etc. can be said to be equally divided. Whether it is the plant itself or the horticultural materials, it is indispensable in the home gardening market, providing consumers with a full range of satisfaction. Among these horticultural enthusiasts, nearly half of the respondents prefer to buy finished potted plants that only need simple maintenance such as watering, and more than half like to buy bare root seedlings that need to be potted (changed) and planted by themselves. Fun gardening sets containing seeds (balls), pots, soil fertilizer and tools, and home-grown vegetables are also popular.
Paul Horticulture sells one- and two-year-old grass flowers, perennial cedar flowers and flowering shrubs. With the rise of home gardening, its sales have shown a trend of 50% year by year compared to 2019. Products such as Liuchuanhua, cyclamen, gerbera, hydrangea and other products have always had high market popularity, and the reason for their popularity lies in the characteristics of rich colors, easy maintenance, long flowering period, wide adaptability and low maintenance. The rapid growth in sales of vegetable products as a result of the epidemic has become a bright spot. This is not only due to the update and iteration of vegetable and fruit varieties and the interest of the plants themselves, but also people's attention to food safety and healthy life, "self-sufficiency, peace of mind" is the main reason why family fruit and vegetable products can become explosive products.
Breeding: the pursuit of worry-free and labor-saving
Consumers not only pay attention to the variety, form, color and other characteristics of plants, but also pay attention to the matching and design of green plants with pots, decorations, spaces, etc. This is also reflected in the survey. When buying flowers and plants, consumers mainly pay attention to the type (variety), ornamentation, price and convenience of maintenance. Most people say that their preference for floral colors is more casual, just like it, but there are also a large number of people who prefer romantic pink-purple and fresh blue-green colors. For home gardening materials products such as flower pots, flower fertilizer, flower soil, and gardening tools, consumers pay more attention to the products that are durable, affordable, professional in function and simple in operation. Most florists are satisfied with the products they have purchased. Longevity flowers with affordable prices, long flowering periods and easy maintenance, Phalaenopsis orchids that reflower in the second year, simple and delicate red pottery pots, white square pots, and water pipe sets with watering flowers and fertilization are all loved by flower lovers. There are also Merlot trees for flower friends, Emperor Rome for pots, and Gardina for watering, making flower cultivation both exquisite and professional.
In addition, providing potted flower products with maintenance instructions and providing varieties with fewer pests and diseases, strong growth and more heat tolerance are also problems mentioned by many florists. "There are too few heat-resistant varieties suitable for the two guangzhous", "why are there few varieties of Chinese-style horticultural products, and they are expensive", "It would be great if more varieties from abroad could be introduced through the survival of the fittest", "I hope that more and more independent varieties are better", it can be seen from the survey feedback that flower friends have a high demand for good-looking and easy-to-raise flower varieties.
Paul Horticulture said that with the further development of the home gardening market, most consumers will return to the essence of planting and gradually pay attention to the low maintenance and effort-saving of plant products, after all, resistance is a non-negligible and quite important part of the performance of varieties.
How to buy: Online becomes mainstream
The sales of home gardening products are divided into offline and online modes, mainly offline in physical stores such as flower markets and flower shops, and online on e-commerce platforms, live broadcast rooms and community group buying, providing consumers with a variety of purchase channels.
In recent years, with the continuous development of e-commerce and logistics industry, online consumption has become more convenient and fast, coupled with the rapid development of short video live broadcast rooms such as Douyin, home gardening has opened the traffic password with the beauty of flowers, and more and more consumers choose to buy flowers online. Among the frequently used purchase methods, 69.19% of people often buy on Taobao, Jingdong and other e-commerce platforms, 30.72% are online community group purchases, 19.73% are purchased through live broadcast rooms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, 36.80% choose to buy offline in large flower markets and garden centers, and 15.90% will buy in supermarkets and flower shops around the community. As Heidi Garden felt, online sales break geographical restrictions and make it easier for florists across the country to buy home gardening products. Especially in the live broadcast room, users can intuitively see the state of plants, understand product characteristics, and effectively improve sales conversion, while the live broadcast shows the beauty of flower and plant products, which is an important channel for stores to increase fans.
The development momentum of online channels is not only reflected in sales, merchants are also paying more and more attention to the online marketing and promotion of horticultural products, live broadcast hosts, Internet celebrity bloggers have entered the market to shoot short videos, share all kinds of horticultural goodies, not only improve consumers' desire to buy flowers, but also successfully bring flowers fertilizer, flower soil and other horticultural supplies. From the main way for flower friends to understand home gardening products, 55.84% of people will actively search on the Internet, 46.32% of people are recommended by home gardening bloggers to plant grass, 34.15% of people are recommended by flower friends, and 30.42% of people visit exhibitions and exhibitions to experience and understand in physical stores and flower markets.
More and more people are using social media to share and access gardening-related information and content. They will post their gardens and balconies on Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo and other platforms, and share planting experience, purchase experience, planting list, etc. with beautiful pictures, text or video introductions. Some flower friends said that the exquisite pictures and detailed descriptions on the Internet are very attractive to follow the purchase, she found a lot of favorite plants, pots, and even planting soil, fertilizer, as well as various maintenance tips, how to carry out automatic sprinkler irrigation, compost and other horticultural knowledge, are all learned in the Little Red Book.
Qingdao slow flower house is mainly engaged in the sales of small pots of succulents, online platform to do popular, meaty "ice jade", "Monroe", "perfume" "white tea" and so on are more popular, but these types are popular varieties, the production stock is very large, so the risk is quite large. Now e-commerce is relatively mature, but the increasingly fierce competition, serious involvement, and weak sales after the epidemic have made it more difficult to do business. How to acquire customers in e-commerce channels is becoming more and more difficult, and traffic is becoming more and more precious. In the succulent market, where consumers demand better and cheaper products, new and richer varieties, growers are increasingly demanding.
At the same time, consumers also raised problems with online flower purchases, the most prominent of which were the wrong version, poor seedlings, and the unguaranteed quality of some products. As a non-standard product, home gardening online sales need to strengthen product quality and professional services in order to achieve consumer satisfaction. With the rising cost of express packaging and auxiliary material labor, how to build a low-cost, high-efficiency product supply and logistics delivery system is a problem that needs to be considered for the sales expansion of the online platform.
Offline experiences are essential
Of course, the experience of offline consumption in terms of freshness and ornamentation has also made many consumers favor offline consumption. "The flower market is too far away", "there are a little few flower shops" and "lack of gardening centers" have been mentioned many times in this survey, an elderly flower friend said that although there are small flower shops around the living area, they are mainly cut flowers, and I hope that a comprehensive flower shop can appear in the community to make it more convenient for the elderly to buy flowers and meet their spiritual needs.
In 2021, Heidi's garden settled in Spring Flower Paradise and soon became an Internet celebrity check-in place with horticultural characteristics. This year, they also grasped the momentum of offline economic recovery, combined online and offline traffic, used garden scenes closer to life, let consumers enjoy a more real, interesting and convenient purchase experience, and used scenes to promote concrete products to continue to maintain the popularity of customer cultivation and maintenance.