2015 Buyer's Guide — Barbecue Data
Note: The estimate of barbecue specialty retailers in the U.S. and Canada is derived from Hearth & Home’s circulation database. All other data are from recent surveys.
| FAST FACTS | ||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers - U.S. |
2,144 |
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| ▲ | Specialty Retailer Gross Revenues - Barbecue products and accessories |
U.S. |
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| ▲ | Average profit margin - Gas grills |
32% |
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| ▲ | Total barbecue revenues represented by barbecue accessories |
19% |
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| ▲ | Average number of barbecue brands carried |
4 |
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| ▲ | Indoor selling area devoted to barbecues and accessories (median sq. ft.) |
1,700 |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers with indoor and outdoor barbecue selling areas |
47% |
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| ▲ | Indoor barbecue selling area (median sq. ft.) |
800 |
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| ▲ | Outdoor barbecue selling area (median sq. ft.) |
500 |
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| ▲ | Began retailing barbecue products (median yr.) |
1996 |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers displaying and selling barbecues year round |
76% |
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| ▲ | Barbecue sales to previous customers |
36% |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers open seven days a week |
17% |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers who give cooking demos at least once a week |
12% |
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| U.S. Sales of Barbecue Products Year to Year Sales Change |
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Although data for 2013 is not available, it’s obvious that the past four years have marked a dramatic, and strong, turnaround for sales of barbecue products through the specialty barbecue network. |
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| Barbecue Retailers’ Product Mix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Category | % Retailers Selling | ||
| Barbecue | 9% | ||
| Barbecue | Hearth | 53% | |
| Barbecue | Hearth | Patio | 28% |
| Barbecue | Patio | 10% | |
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Only nine percent of specialty retailers are able to exist by selling only barbecue products. The vast majority (81%) also sell hearth products, while 38 percent also sell patio products. |
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| Retailers’ Market Area | |
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Sixty-seven percent of responding specialty retailers are in marketing areas of at least 100,000 people. |
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| Stores Operated % of Barbecue Specialty Retailers |
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Twenty percent of barbecue specialty retailers operate more than one store. |
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| Staying in the Grill Business | |
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The percent of retailers who say they plan to stay in the barbecue business dropped by two percent in 2014. |
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| Total Retail Sales for All Products 2014 |
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Fifty-nine percent of retailers who carry barbecue products have total sales of all products over $1million. |
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| Retail Sales of Barbecue Products and Accessories 2014 |
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Sixty-four percent of barbecue dealers have sales of barbecue and accessory products under $200,000. |
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| Barbecue Purchases and Sales 2014 |
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Sales of barbecue products are truly a year round business; 54 percent occur in the first half of the year, and 46 percent from July 1 to December 31. |
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| Sales of Barbecue Products 2014 Compared to 2013 |
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Fifty percent of specialty barbecue retailers report having better year-over-year sales than in the prior year, which is the highest percentage in quite some time. |
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| Grill Sales Up or Down | |
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The above chart shows barbecue products that increased in sales year-over-year. Sales of Charcoal Grills declined by two percent, while sales of Multi-fuel, Electric and Portable Grills, as well as Pizza Ovens, remained the same. |
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| Gas Grills – Average Gross Margin 2014 |
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No wonder they complain: 79 percent of barbecue specialty retailers achieve gross margins of under 35 percent. |
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| Type of Gass Grill Sales Natural vs. Propane |
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For the past eight years, market share of propane gas grills has ranged between 56 and 63 percent. |
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| Retailers Carrying Sauces & Seasonings |
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Only 63 percent of barbecue retailers carry sauces and seasonings, which begs the question: Why not? |
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| Retailers Selling Sauces & Seasonings |
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| Retailers Not Selling Sauces & Seasonings |
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While 41 percent of barbecue retailers selling sauces and seasonings had a better 2014 than 2013, only 18 percent of those who did not had a better year.
| Cooking Demos To Promote Sales Percent of Retailers |
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For the past six years, approximately six out of 10 responding barbecue retailers have used cooking demonstrations to promote sales. |
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| Frequency of Cooking Demonstrations | |
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Twenty percent of retailers who give cooking demonstrations do so at least once a week. |
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| Additional Services Provided | |
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The percentage of retailers providing Annual Servicing increased by seven percent over numbers reported in 2012, and by seven percent for those providing Design services. |
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| Gross Revenues by Category | |
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For retailers who carry barbecues, 44 percent of their gross revenues stems from sales of hearth products. |
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| Barbecue Accessories as Percent of Barbecue Revenues |
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Barbecue accessories account for more than 10 percent of total barbecue revenues for 48 percent of specialty retailers. |
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| Sell Barbecues Over the Internet | |
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From 2003 through 2013, 15 to 24 percent of barbecue retailers reported selling over the Internet. In 2014, that figure increased to 27 percent, which is the highest on record. |
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| Internet Sales Impact by Other Retailers |
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A whopping 88 percent of responding barbecue retailers feel that Internet sales by other retailers are having a major, minor or minor but growing impact on their sales; two years ago that percentage was 53. |
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| Selling the Concept of The Outdoor Room | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retailer’s Product Mix | Yes | No | ||
| Barbecue | 55% | 45% | ||
| Barbecue | Hearth | 40% | 60% | |
| Barbecue | Hearth | Patio | 75% | 25% |
| Barbecue | Patio | 65% | 35% | |
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Specialty barbecue retailers selling all three product categories are the most aggressive at promoting the concept of The Outdoor Room. |
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| Complementary Products | |
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Only Fire Pits and Outdoor Fireplaces are being sold by more than half of barbecue retailers responding to the survey. |
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Barbecue Grill and Smoker Shipments North America 1985-2014 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Year |
Charcoal |
Gas |
Electric |
Total |
|
1985 |
7,869,992 |
3,173,000 |
78,000 |
11,120,992 |
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1986 |
7,938,592 |
3,443,000 |
120,000 |
11,501,592 |
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1987 |
7,758,700 |
3,657,100 |
99,200 |
11,515,000 |
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1988 |
8,137,400 |
3,850,300 |
134,700 |
12,122,400 |
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1989 |
8,114,864 |
3,823,262 |
133,319 |
12,071,445 |
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1990 |
7,831,621 |
4,002,279 |
190,809 |
12,024,709 |
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1991 |
6,301,723 |
4,261,181 |
142,734 |
10,705,638 |
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1992 |
5,992,326 |
4,283,387 |
155,895 |
10,431,608 |
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1993 |
5,890,920 |
5,062,665 |
262,945 |
11,216,530 |
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1994 |
6,274,420 |
5,837,136 |
237,425 |
12,348,981 |
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1995 |
5,321,924 |
5,800,878 |
261,267 |
11,384,069 |
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1996 |
5,159,325 |
6,413,417 |
262,862 |
11,835,604 |
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1997 |
5,041,612 |
6,361,102 |
223,402 |
11,626,116 |
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1998 |
5,033,205 |
7,969,537 |
215,534 |
13,218,276 |
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1999 |
6,108,427 |
8,639,833 |
203,789 |
14,952,049 |
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2000 |
5,898,000 |
9,320,000 |
211,000 |
15,429,000 |
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2001 |
5,404,000 |
8,516,000 |
187,000 |
14,107,000 |
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2002 |
5,363,500 |
9,583,500 |
238,200 |
15,185,200 |
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2003 |
5,357,000 |
8,446,500 |
293,000 |
14,096,500 |
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2004 |
5,426,250 |
8,732,200 |
293,700 |
14,452,150 |
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2005 |
5,752,000 |
8,953,500 |
280,800 |
14,986,300 |
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2006 |
6,845,000 |
10,137,500 |
290,000 |
17,272,500 |
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2007 |
6,863,000 |
10,281,500 |
287,000 |
17,431,500 |
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2008 |
6,775,000 |
9,614,000 |
292,400 |
16,681,400 |
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2009 |
6,164,000 |
8,543,000 |
277,150 |
14,984,150 |
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2010 |
6,232,500 |
8,553,500 |
276,600 |
15,062,600 |
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2011 |
6,047,000 |
8,445,000 |
288,000 |
14,780,000 |
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2012 |
5,917,000 |
8,200,000 |
280,000 |
14,397,000 |
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2013 |
5,590,000 |
8,053,000 |
302,000 |
13,945,000 |
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2014 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
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Data from the HPBA. |
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