Ed. Note: During the third week of January, Hearth & Home sent a survey to 2,500 retailers of barbecue products. A total of 231 were returned and usable.

Ninety-one percent of barbecue retailers also sell fire pits, 73% sell outdoor fireplaces, and 55% sell patio heaters. The impact of outdoor kitchens can be seen in the percent of barbecue retailers now carrying outdoor refrigerators (36%), outdoor bar units (31%), outdoor sinks (22%) and outdoor warming drawers (27%).

Question: What could barbecue manufacturers do to help you sell more of their products?

NORTHEAST

Connecticut: “Too much competition with Box stores. I will not sell inexpensive products. People will buy cheap instead of quality.”

Connecticut: “I especially dislike the manufacturers that sell to both Big Box stores and us. How can we provide customers with ‘first-class service’ when we are held to such low margins in order to compete with Box stores that are at 14-20% margins? I refuse to sell any manufacturer that is in a Box store!”

Maine: “Our market could use more local advertising dollars. Most national campaigns don’t reach our customers.”

New Hampshire: “Send reps to help with cooking demonstrations and training!”

New Jersey: “Box stores are killers! Way too cheap and inferior products.”

Pennsylvania: “More co-op or help with ad campaigns. Napoleon did a real nice job on their national advertising campaign. We are working with landscapers to install gas lines and help with the installation of the grills for their projects.”

Pennsylvania: “Allow a little more flexibility in sales and minimize over-saturation.”

A sharp rise in 2014 (+13%) brought the barbecue industry a bit out of the doldrums. But the past two years have shown little growth beyond that.

Sales were flat in the U.S., with the South and Midwest regions posting the best numbers (up 5% and 8% respectively). Canada, which was up 11% in 2015, plummeted to -9% in 2016.

The star of the year was the Midwest region of the U.S. with 48% of retailers posting a positive year.

SOUTH

Florida: “Protect the brick-and-mortar dealers from Internet pricing!”

Georgia: “Positive web information with lead generation. Margins need to be higher. That’s a must. Competition with online retailers severely affects margin and lessens the value of the products being sold. Very little desire to control this aspect from most of the manufacturers I come in contact with.”

Louisiana: “Quit selling high-end grills on the Internet. Offer advertising co-op.”

Tennessee: “Reduce lead-times advertising, brand awareness.”

Tennessee: “More samples.”

Tennessee: “Quit selling every retailer and their brothers and sisters around our destination store. Advertise their brand nationally on TV, digital.”

Texas: “Improve the margins; overhead is increasing every year. Place incentives to pass on to the customer for multiple purchases of equipment and accessories. We are seeing a steady increase every year of new customers who want to add an outdoor living area, and new-home buyers are having those products added to the purchase. Outdoor grilling is a year-long activity here. It only slows a little in the winter months.”

Forty-three percent of respondents are forecasting a slight increase in sales in 2017, while 18% are forecasting a large increase, better than 15%.

Specialty retailers of barbecue products derive only 16% of their revenue from that category. Hearth products are by far their mainstay.

Forty-three percent of respondents are forecasting a slight increase in sales in 2017, while 18% are forecasting a large increase, better than 15%.

Only 24% of specialty barbecue retailers sell more than 100 grills annually.

 

Midwest

Illinois: “Marketing of their own brands.”

Indiana: “Everything we do is custom, so I work with a lot of landscape architects and they all have their places they get grills and that type of items from, so we build the island and then install all of their products. I don’t like to step on toes or bite the hand that feeds me, so I take what I can get. We have a pretty large dealer of appliances in a city not far away and he is the supplier – that is his niche.”

Indiana: “Our manufacturers do a nice job for us and I think we need to do more grilling demonstrations and cooking classes. I would hope to be able to get assistance from the manufacturers to do these things.”

Kansas: “For them to advertise on the Internet-only and push customers to retail stores instead of online sales.”

Minnesota: “With the margins as low as they are, territorial protection is the key to success (in our opinion).”

Ohio: “Produce a quality product. If our customers want junk, they can go to the mass merchants.”

Sales of pellet grills were up 14% in 2016, followed by smokers at 7%.

The sweet spot in pricing for grills moved a little bit this year. Now it’s between $800 and $1,599.

WEST

Colorado: “Local marketing assistance including co-op funds. Smaller quantities for early-buys and specials.”

Colorado: “STOP SELLING TO BIG BOX STORES!”

New Mexico: “Give better margins. There needs to be a ‘Copperfield’ for grill accessories – someone who sells, distributes, multi-brands of barbecue stuff.”

Utah: “Margins are too tight to be able to make a profit and promote sales.”

Washington: “Give the retailer better margins to allow events sales without losing a 40% margin. Participate in the events to allow specials to the retailer.”

Washington: “Stop selling to Big Box stores. They are pricing little specialty retailers out because they are able to buy larger quantities.”

Washington: “Offer more advertising co-op so we can advertise more. Keep quality products off the Internet and out of mass, reserve them for specialty dealers who will deliver, assemble, and repair.”

Washington: “If the manufacturers offered free cooking demonstrations to show off the products and rubs, increased margins would lead us to feel more inclined to really focus on that aspect. We like selling grills and we intend to continue to do so, but it would be helpful to make more money on each sale. More customers are becoming aware of building nice Outdoor Rooms, and we can help where possible.”

Only 14% of specialty barbecue retailers carry more than six brands.

The specialty barbecue network is composed of companies with years of experience. Forty-one percent began prior to the year 2000.

CANADA

Alberta: “As we all know, the Box stores are ruining the entire market for barbecues. No service, no knowledge in the Box stores, and they work on very low margins that the specialty stores cannot operate on. But the shopper comes to us first to learn about the product and then they shop at the Box store. We intend to stay in the barbecue market for now as we do not give up easily, but there may come a time to say enough is enough, even though we sell product not available in a Box store.”

British Columbia: “Barbecue manufacturers have helped our margin with MAP pricing and advertising policies, but more needs to be done for margins to be where they should be for most specialty retailers. Some manufacturers continue to support mass merchants while courting small retailers. We need to stop supporting such companies and work with those who truly support us in return.”

British Columbia: “Stop opening up so many retailers in the same market selling the same product line - stop selling to Big Box stores to compete with the niche stores.”

Ontario: “Manufacturers have way too many SKUs and too many electronics. Customers want more simplicity and reliability. They need to reduce the number of SKUs they carry by 75%.”

Ontario: “I think it is too late. The damage to the market has been done.”

Ontario: “Provide better discounts. Make products that are better suited for Canadian winters.”