Outdoor Living Is Booming again in 2021 as Producers are Pushed to the Limits

The market for outdoor living solutions is overheating since 2020 and demand is expected to remain at the current level despite uncertainty about overall economic growth. In 2021 textile outdoor rose by 9,7% in Europe Top 7, while bioclimatic pergolas keep getting more and more popular overperforming again with 25,4% quantity growth. At the same time, producers are struggling to keep up with demand and have been forced to rise prices as raw materials are getting more expensive. This trend will continue in 2022, but, in case of a prolonged war in Ukraine, producers will have problems in transferring additional price increases to dealers and consumers.

Higher Demand as the new normal?

In the last 2 years, high levels of demand have been in part caused by households diverting their spending toward home renovation and in particular in making outdoor areas more comfortable. Lockdown measures and travel restrictions forced families to stay more time in their homes during the summer months.  However, other structural factors are helping the industry, as for example higher investments in energy saving solutions and climate change. For Dr. Stefano Armandi, the author of the study, “there are early signs that household spending will remain high also in the medium term and Interconnection is confident that the market for outdoor living as a whole will rather stabilize at current levels, at least in absence of external shocks”.

Italy overperformed thanks to government subsidies

Italian market overperformed in 2021 as the government implemented a large intervention by helping homeowners to renovate their homes and covering more than 10% of the final costs. Similar programmes are planned in other countries in 2022, albeit with different coverage and conditions. The German market recorded a robust increase in textile outdoor, while bioclimatic pergolas are still not growing as in other market, like Italy and Benelux.    

ZIP-screens are on the rise

In 2021, all product categories in outdoor living recorded a growth in sales volume. Cross-arm awning, which has the biggest share in quantity, increased above 10%, while the quantity growth of stationary and wintergarten awnings was about 5%. One of the most visible signs of a booming market has been the rise of textile pergolas. After years of declines caused by the introduction of bioclimatic solutions, textile awning grew again in 2021 above 10%. And this happened in a year in which bioclimatic pergolas grew well above 20% on average reaching 50.000 units sold.

Price levels are at all-time high

Most producers were forced to rise prices in 2021 and will likely face rising costs again in 2022. Although prices increased did not yet reduce demand, consumer spending will start to feel the hit of inflationary pressures. The expected rise in energy costs will lead household to reduce spending for other products and services. Interconnection predicts that outdoor living will stabilize in the next 3 years despite some positive growth is still expected in 2022. Textile outdoor will stay around 1,5 million units sold up to 2024, while bioclimatic pergolas are expected to keep growing in average by around 10%.

Not least the effects of the pandemic have further increased the importance of online sales. In the course of this, Interconnection Consulting conducted a mystery shopping test among 158 sun protection retailers in Germany. The results of the test show that the potential of online retailing is not yet optimally exploited in the industry.

The 158 sun protection retailers were questioned by Interconnection by mail, about a specific concern. The main concern of the mystery shopper was product recommendations for exterior sun protection and patio roofing. However, 65% of the responding retailers made neither a product recommendation for one nor the other. For about half of the companies (44.9%), an online enquiry alone is not sufficient. Only after a reminder email and telephone contact was the response rate 86.7%. Of the 137 responding traders, around 55% would like to have a telephone conversation and/or invite the customer to a personal meeting.

Quality of Service Leaves Much To Be Desired

The average response time was 3.9 days. Only about one in four dealers complies with the golden rule of the internet, with a reply within 24 hours. The enquiry not only contained a specific request, but also three additional questions (delivery time, assembly, guarantee). Almost two thirds of the dealers did not answer the three additional questions. Less than a quarter answer all three questions. Here, the importance of dealers answering questions is obviously underestimated. “Especially risk-averse prospects are lost due to unsatisfactory answers to the questions”, explains Panorea Kaskani, the author of the study. The study also shows that traders have very little interest in closing a deal. 86.1% of dealers who made an offer did not follow up, even though following up is an essential sales step in the customer acquisition process that should not be neglected, says Kaskani. Nearly half of the dealers took over 6 working days to submit an offer after initial contact. It was astonishing that not a single one of the dealers attempted cross-selling, although the market for sun protection delivers these opportunities, for example through insect and/or burglar protection.

Not least the effects of the pandemic have further increased the importance of online sales. In the course of this, Interconnection Consulting conducted a mystery shopping test among 155 sun protection retailers in Austria. The results of the test show that the potential of online trade is not yet optimally exploited in the industry.

The 155 sun protection retailers were questioned by Interconnection by mail, about a specific concern. The mystery shopper’s main concern was product recommendations for exterior sun protection and patio roofing. For four out of ten of the companies, an online enquiry alone was not enough. Only after a reminder email and telephone contact did around 92 percent of the surveyed retailers respond. Of the 143 responding dealers, 65 percent would like to have a telephone conversation and/or invite the customer to a personal meeting.

Room for Improvement in Quality of Responses

The average response time was 4.2 days. Only about one in five dealers fulfilled the golden rule of the internet, with a reply within 24 hours. The enquiry not only contained a specific request, but also three additional questions (delivery time, assembly, guarantee). More than half of the dealers do not answer the three additional questions of the mystery shopper. Less than a quarter answer all three questions. The importance of dealers answering questions is obviously underestimated. “Especially risk-averse prospective customers are lost due to unsatisfactory answers to the questions”, explains Panorea Kaskani, the author of the study. The study also shows that traders have very little interest in closing a deal. 86.1% of dealers who made an offer did not follow up, even though following up is an essential sales step in the customer acquisition process that should not be neglected, Kaskani concludes.

Bioclimatic pergolas have been steadily growing in the last 3 years and they reached a new high in 2020 with around 40.000 elements sold in the main seven European markets. “As families were forced to spend more time at home because of travel restrictions demand for outdoor living increased and bioclimatic pergolas grew even more than in 2019” explains  Dr. Armandi, the author of the study. In the next three years, the market will continue to grow at an average yearly rate of ca. 10% and will add more than 10.000 new units. Extra demand will in part covered by new players, but especially in the premium segment brand recognition will help established leaders top defend their position.

German market will recover the lost ground

Growth is manifesting in all countries as the product is relatively new whereas growth is a little bit lower in more mature markets, like France and Benelux. In aggregate, for all 7 countries under consideration, revenues have reached 280 million euros in 2020. The French market counts for more than one third of all bioclimatic pergolas sold in 2020, followed by Italy and Benelux. As a late-comer, the German market is expected to overperform in the next three years and will reach 11,1% market shares in 2023.

More players, lower prices, but still premium pergolas will keep growing

Average price have declined on average by -0,1% in 2020. Interconnection predicts a more moderate growth of average prices in the next 3 years as more players are entering into the market and as pergolas in the economy segment will take shares away from the medium segment. However, premium, high-quality solutions which now counts for 38% of the market will keep growing strongly especially in Benelux and the rising German market.

Pergolas with ZIP-Screens as side protection gaining popularity

Stand-alone pergolas constitute slightly more than 55% of the whole market, while those with a side protection element are expanding strongly, Among the different types of side protection, Zip-Screens are the most popular: two out of three bioclimatic pergolas are sold with at least one ZIP-Screens and this proportion is even higher in the premium segment . The three main competitors in Europe are Brustor, Pratic and Renson .

Outdoor venetian blinds hope for a rebound after COVID

After years of sustained growth, the market for outdoor venetian blinds for the 7 major European markets (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy and Poland) will suffer a setback in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The market will fall by -3,7%. In new study, Interconnection predicts that quantity sold will experience a gradual rebound in the next years, while the volume in 2025 will raise above the 2019-level in all markets analyzed.

DACH-Region Overrepresented

The popularity of outdoor venetian blinds as exterior sun protection element in the DACH-Region is well-known and strongly defines volume and trend for the whole European market. The German market is by far the biggest market with 49,6% shares,  followed by Switzerland and Austria. Still, it will take some years before Germany will reach the pre-crisis level. Rebound will be faster in some of the less mature and, at the same time, fastest-growing countries, as France and Spain. In 2019, the Spanish market grew by +5.3%. In Southern Europe venetian blinds have been struggling to take shares away from other, more traditional, sun protection elements, as wood and roller shutters. For example, the Italian market is less than 1/10^th of the German one.

Fall in aluminium price could make blinds more competitive

A positive feedback on total volume sold could be lower prices for raw material, as ca. 90% of all venetian blinds are made of aluminium and price of aluminium had been growing stronger before the crisis. This could help producers to take advantage of the situation and help venetian blinds to become more competitive relative to alternative solutions. One of the reasons why average prices of blinds is relatively high is the motorization level which is dominant reaching 93% in France. Only in Poland only 64% of venetian blinds are sold with a motorization system.

More players, concentration declines

In the last 5 years more sun protection players have started to produce their own venetina blinds and, since 2017, Interconnection recorded a trend towards lower concentration among the top producers. Still, the Top 10 companies covered in 2019 59,8% of the total volume. Some of the Top 5 have lost shares in part because present only in the more mature markets. Roma and Hunter Douglas gained shares in 2019.

The European market for Bioclimatic Pergolas is expanding steadily and will grow at 7,7% in quantity in 2018. In the next three years, it will continue to grow at an average yearly rate of 5,9%. Growth is manifesting in all countries as the product is relatively new whereas growth is a little bit lower in more mature markets, like France and Benelux. In aggregate, for all 7 countries under consideration, revenues have reached 218,2 million euros in 2018.

France, Benelux and Italy as biggest markets

Bioclimatic pergolas are quite sophisticated sun protection systems and have to be considered as an alternative to textile patio pergolas. First introduced in Benelux and France, they become quite popular in Italy in the last 2-3 years. These three are the biggest market as of 2018. In France the market will grow at 5,5%, while the Italian market will be still expanding by 7,7%. In all other countries, apart from Benelux, quantity will grow above 10% in 2018.

Higher prices in Benelux and in German-speaking areas

In terms of price segment, the seven markets are relatively differentiated. In Benelux, where the main premium brands dominate the market, average prices are higher and the premium segment (>800€ per square meter) covers 43,9% of all pergolas sold in 2018. Lowest average prices have been detected in France and Spain, whereas pergolas in the premium segment are above 40% in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Stand-alone pergolas as most popular solution

Stand-alone pergolas constitute slightly more than 50% of the whole market. Pergolas with side protection (against wind and rain) are expanding strongly, while those without side protection will fall below 25% in the next 3 years. Among the different types of side protection, Zip-Screens are the most popular. The three main competitors in Europe are Brustor, Pratic and Renson.