2016 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. |
2,631 |
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| ▲ | Specialty Retailer Gross Revenues - Barbecue products and accessories |
U.S. |
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| ▲ | Average profit margin - Gas grills |
30% |
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| ▲ | Total barbecue revenues represented by barbecue accessories |
12% |
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| ▲ | Average number of barbecue brands carried |
4 |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers with indoor and outdoor barbecue selling areas |
44% |
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| ▲ | Indoor barbecue selling area (median sq. ft.) |
550 |
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| ▲ | Outdoor barbecue selling area (median sq. ft.) |
400 |
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| ▲ | Began retailing barbecue products (median yr.) |
2000 |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers displaying and selling barbecues year round |
88% |
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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 |
16% |
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In 2015, 32% of all gas grills were sold as built-in units. |
| U.S. Sales of Barbecue Products Year to Year Sales Change |
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Sales of barbecue products declined slightly in 2015, following a strong performance in the prior year. |
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| Barbecue Retailers’ Product Mix | |||
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| Product Category | % Retailers Selling | ||
| Barbecue | 10% | ||
| Barbecue | Hearth | 44% | |
| Barbecue | Hearth | Patio | 40% |
| Barbecue | Patio | 6% | |
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Only 10 percent of specialty barbecue retailers are able to exist by selling only barbecue products. The vast majority (84%) also sell hearth products. |
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| Retailers’ Market Area | |
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Seventy percent of responding retailers are in marketing areas of at least 100,000 people. |
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| Retail Sales for All Products 2015 |
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Sixty percent of retailers who carry barbecue products have total sales over $1 million for all products they sell. |
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| Retail Sales of Barbecue Products and Accessories 2015 |
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Only 25 percent of specialty retailers selling barbecue products and accessories gross over $200,000 in sales of those products. |
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| Gross Revenues by Category | |
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For retailers who sell barbecue products, 58 percent of their revenues are from sales of hearth products. |
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| Stores Operated % of Barbecue Specialty Retailers |
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Twelve 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 14 percent in 2015. |
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| Barbecue Purchases and Sales 2015 |
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Sales of barbecue products have become just about a year-round business; 57 percent occur in the first half of the year, and 43 percent from July 1 to December 31. |
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| Sales of Barbecue Products 2015 Compared to 2014 |
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Only 26 percent of barbecue specialty retailers report having better year-over-year sales than in the prior year. |
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| Additional Services Provided | |
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The percent of retailers providing Annual Servicing increased by 14 percent in 2015. |
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| Grill Sales Up or Down | |
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Kamados and smokers continue to lead the way, but pellet grills lagged far behind. |
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| Gas Grills – Average Gross Margin 2015 |
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Seventy-eight percent of barbecue specialty retailers achieved 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 nine years, market share of propane gas grills has ranged between 56 and 63 percent. |
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| Retailers Selling Prefabricated Grill Islands | |
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Only 42 percent of specialty retailers carry prefabricated grill islands. |
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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 39 percent of specialty retailers. |
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| Consider Margins Made on Barbecue Products too Low? Percent of Retailers |
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Seventy-five percent of specialty barbecue retailers consider the margins they make on barbecue products to be too low. |
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| Complementary Products | |
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A whopping 89 percent of specialty retailers now carry fire pits, while 79 percent carry outdoor fireplaces. Fire rules! |
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| Retailers Carrying Sauces & Seasonings |
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Only 62 percent of barbecue retailers carry sauces and seasonings. |
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| Retailers Selling Sauces & Seasonings |
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| Retailers Not Selling Sauces & Seasonings |
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This year there was little difference in gross sales between retailers who do carry sauces and seasonings, and those who don’t.
| Cooking Demos To Promote Sales Percent of Retailers |
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Demos sell barbecues. So tell us why 44 percent of barbecue retailers don’t do demos? |
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| Frequency of Cooking Demonstrations | |
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Sixteen percent of retailers who do demos do so at least once a week. |
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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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2015 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
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Data from the HPBA. |
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| Sell Barbecues Over the Internet | |
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Twenty-seven percent of retailers selling barbecues do so over the Internet, as well as in their brick and mortar stores. |
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| Limit Barbecue Internet Sales to Your Marketing Area? | |
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Of those specialty barbecue retailers who do sell over the Internet, 30 percent do not limit those sales to their own market area. |
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| Internet Sales Impact by Other Retailers |
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Twenty-eight percent of barbecue retailers are feeling a major (negative) impact from other retailers selling over the Internet. |
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| Selling the Concept of The Outdoor Room | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retailer’s Product Mix | Yes | No | ||
| Barbecue | 40% | 60% | ||
| Barbecue | Hearth | 35% | 65% | |
| Barbecue | Hearth | Patio | 85% | 15% |
| Barbecue | Patio | 60% | 40% | |
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Retailers selling all three categories – barbecue, hearth and patio – are most likely to be the ones promoting the concept of The Outdoor Room. |
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| Selling the Concept of the Outdoor Room Percent of Retailers |
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Sixty percent of barbecue retailers say they are selling the concept of The Outdoor Room. |
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| More Customers Creating Outdoor Rooms Percent of Retailers |
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Sixty-seven percent of barbecue retailers tell us that more of their customers are creating Outdoor Rooms. |
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| Days Closed Related to Demographics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population | None | Monday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Under 25,000 | 29% | – | 30% | 41% |
| 25,000-49,999 | – | 25% | 13% | 62% |
| 50,000-99,999 | 18% | – | 9% | 73% |
| 100,000-249,999 | 15% | 6% | 5% | 74% |
| 250,000-499,999 | 18% | 9% | – | 73% |
| 500,000-999,999 | 14% | 15% | – | 71% |
| Over 1,000,000 | 9% | 18% | – | 73% |
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No one closes their store on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, but those in larger market areas are more likely than others to stay open seven days a week. |
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