2017 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. |
2,387 |
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| ▲ | Specialty Retailer Gross Revenues - Barbecue products and accessories |
U.S. |
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| ▲ | Average profit margin - Gas grills |
31% |
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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 |
67% |
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| ▲ | Indoor barbecue selling area (median sq. ft.) |
800 |
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| ▲ | Outdoor barbecue selling area (median sq. ft.) |
100 |
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| ▲ | Began retailing barbecue products (median yr.) |
2002 |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers displaying and selling barbecues year round |
92% |
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| ▲ | Barbecue sales to previous customers |
39% |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers open seven days a week |
12% |
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| ▲ | Barbecue Specialty Retailers who give cooking demos at least once a week |
28% |
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In 2016, 16% of all gas grills |
| U.S. Sales of Barbecue Products Year-to-Year Sales Change |
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After a great year in 2014, sales of barbecue products slipped back in 2015 and 2016. |
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| Barbecue Retailers’ Product Mix | |||
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| Product Category | % Retailers Selling | ||
| Barbecue | 10% | ||
| Barbecue | Hearth | 37% | |
| Barbecue | Hearth | Patio | 46% |
| Barbecue | Patio | 6% | |
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Hearth products are part of the mix in 83% of the stores that sell barbecues. |
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| Retailers’ Market Area | |
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Sixty-nine percent of barbecue retailers are in a market area with population under 250,000. |
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| Retail Sales for All Products 2016 |
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Sixty-five percent of barbecue retailers have total sales for all products carried above $1 million. |
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| Retail Sales of Barbecue Products and Accessories 2016 |
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Thirteen percent of barbecue retailers have sales of barbecue products and accessories of over $500,000. |
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| Gross Revenues by Category | |
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Hearth products represent 41% of gross revenues for barbecue retailers. |
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| Stores Operated % of Barbecue Specialty Retailers |
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Twenty-two percent of barbecue retailers operate more than one store. |
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| Staying in the Grill Business | |
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Five percent of barbecue retailers plan to drop the category, with 12% undecided. |
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| Barbecue Purchases and Sales 2016 |
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Sixty-nine percent of barbecue purchases by the retailers occur in the first half of the year, but those purchases continue to the end of the year. |
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| Sales of Barbecue Products 2016 Compared to 2015 |
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Thirty-three percent of barbecue retailers were up in 2016. |
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| Additional Services Provided | |
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Fifty-two percent of barbecue retailers now provide design services. |
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| Grill Sales Up or Down | |
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Pellet grills and smokers posted the strongest year in 2016, with infrared grills, gas grills and kamados struggling a bit. |
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| Gas Grills – Average Gross Margin 2016 |
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Only 24% of barbecue retailers are able to maintain a gross margin over 35%. |
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| Type of Gass Grill Sales Natural vs. Propane |
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Sixty-four percent of gas grill sales are for propane units. |
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| Retailers Selling Prefabricated Grill Islands | |
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Only 39% of barbecue retailers carry prefabricated grill islands. |
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| Barbecue Accessories as Percent of Barbecue Revenues |
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Forty-three percent of barbecue retailers say that barbecue accessories represent over 10% of their barbecue revenues. |
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| Consider Margins Made on Barbecue Products too Low? Percent of Retailers |
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A whopping 73% of barbecue retailers consider margins on barbecue products too low. |
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| Retailers Selling Complementary Products | |
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Each year, more retailers are carrying a wider variety of outdoor products. |
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| Retailers Carrying Sauces & Seasonings |
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Thirty-six percent of barbecue retailers don’t carry sauces and seasonings. That almost seems unthinkable. |
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| Retailers Selling Sauces & Seasonings |
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Gross sales were up for 41% in this group. |
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| Retailers Not Selling Sauces & Seasonings |
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Gross sales were up for only 29% in this group. | |
| Cooking Demos To Promote Sales Percent of Retailers |
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Thirty-two percent of barbecue retailers don’t demonstrate their grills. |
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| Frequency of Cooking Demonstrations | |
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Weekly appears to be the most common frequency of cooking demonstrations. |
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Barbecue Grill and Smoker Shipments North America 1987-2016 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Year |
Charcoal |
Gas |
Electric |
Total |
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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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2016 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Sell Barbecues Over the Internet | |
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Only 18% of barbecue retailers are selling on the Internet. |
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| Limit Barbecue Internet Sales to Your Marketing Area? | |
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Of those that do sell over the Internet, the vast majority (85%) don’t limit those sales to their own marketing area. |
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| Internet Sales Impact by Other Retailers |
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Only 3% of barbecue retailers say there is no impact from other retailers selling over the Internet. |
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| Selling the Concept of The Outdoor Room | ||||
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| Retailer’s Product Mix | Yes | No | ||
| Barbecue | 25% | 75% | ||
| Barbecue | Hearth | 48% | 52% | |
| Barbecue | Hearth | Patio | 83% | 17% |
| Barbecue | Patio | 74% | 26% | |
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It’s not a surprise that barbecue retailers who also carry hearth and patio products are actively 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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It’s almost an even split among those barbecue retailers who promote the Outdoor Room, and those that don’t. |
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| More Customers Creating Outdoor Rooms Percent of Retailers |
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Trend Alert: A whopping 68% of customers are creating Outdoor Rooms. |
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| Days Closed Related to Demographics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population | None | Monday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Under 25,000 | 0% | 16% | Open | 84% |
| 25,000-49,999 | 0% | 5% | Open | 95% |
| 50,000-99,999 | 18% | 12% | Open | 70% |
| 100,000-249,999 | 5% | Open | Open | 95% |
| 250,000-499,999 | 28% | 13% | Open | 59% |
| 500,000-999,999 | 25% | 27% | Open | 48% |
| Over 1,000,000 | 14% | 28% | Open | 58% |
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Every barbecue retailer is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. No barbecue retailers in population areas under 50,000 stay open seven days a week. |
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 |
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| A flat roof and master bedroom suite in San Francisco was transformed into this dramatic deck with kitchen, dining and living areas. The flooring is heavy ceramic tile pavers interspersed with walkable in-floor skylights on the main deck, with ipe wood floors at the upper deck and stairs.
Photo Courtesy: ©2017 Ohashi Design Studio. www.ohashidesign.com. Photographer: Paul Dyer Photography. |
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