What's the hottest seller in the rapidly growing U.S. outdoor market?

Outdoor spaces are becoming a popular activity venue for Americans and have spawned a new wave of consumer demand. After a year of pandemic lockdown, Americans paid more attention to outdoor life in 2021, and outdoor products from decorative accessories and seating options to tables and carpets have seen a peak in demand.

According to Total Home’s Furniture Today Strategic Insights report earlier this year, 68% of U.S. consumers say they are using some type of outdoor entertaining space, with patios topping the list, followed by decks and open porches.

A Fixr survey of interior designers showed that fire pits were the second largest trend in outdoor living, behind outdoor kitchens, with 36% of consumers discovering fire pits in their outdoor space and 22% purchasing one in 2021.

Generation Z, the youngest consumer group tracked by Strategic Insights, puts outdoor furniture at the top of their shopping lists, with 47% investing in individual chairs, 40% buying group seating and 43% buying foldable tables.

Millennials are the leading buyers of dining chairs, outdoor lighting and rugs, while Generation X and baby boomers outspend younger consumers on patio umbrellas.

However, for the most part, consumers are keeping their budgets for outdoor products in the lower middle range, with about a third spending less than $200 and about 70% spending less than $1,000 in 2021. Only 1% of respondents went all in on outdoor furniture, spending more than $10,000.

Consumers are increasingly buying outdoor gear in-store. 56% of respondents shop entirely or primarily in-store. That number jumps to 68% for baby boomers, while Gen X and Gen Z mostly buy online, at 47%.

However, while 20% of Gen Xers said they shopped for all of their outdoor products online, only 11% of Gen Zers did so, the lowest rate of any demographic group.

When it comes to outdoor home goods, Amazon is the preferred shopping site for most American consumers, while Lowe's and Home Depot are the winners in the offline market.

Larger merchants like Target and Walmart also received a sizable share of business from in-store shoppers (34%), as did national furniture and decor stores like Ikea, HomeGoods and AtHome, with 27%.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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