Unpacking Consumer Trends for 2024

We are living in what historians have coined “The Digital Age” - a time when advancements in technology are rapidly transforming our economy and our society. This digital revolution has reshaped consumer behavior, from the way we communicate and shop to the way we access information and engage with brands. It’s also changed the strategies that we, as businesses, employ to better understand and target our current and potential customers. One key way we do this is through market research, a field that has been revolutionized by the rise of smartphones and social media since the early 2010s. It’s become easier than ever to connect with customers and gather market insights with tools like customer surveys and data analytics.

In our industry, this has resulted in a flood of statistical and demographic data that tells us who is buying our plants, what plants they’re buying, and where, why, and how they’re buying them. This has led to an increase in market insight reports and surveys that attempt to distill this information into meaningful trends that we can use to anticipate our customers’ needs, identify opportunities, and stay ahead of the curve. Each year, we look forward to the release of the Garden Media Group’s Garden Trends Report and Axiom’s Gardening Outlook Survey. This year, Axiom also released a brand new report: the “2024 First Annual New and Novice Gardener Garden Study.” But wait, there’s more. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society recently released its “Top 10 Gardening Trends for 2024”, Veranda told us about “6 Garden Trends That Will Be Hot in 2024”, and Garden Design shared its “2024 Trends in Garden Design”.  Sunset Home & Garden took a different approach and listed ten outdated garden trends that they believe should end this year.  

While all this data and research around consumer behavior are invaluable when it comes to understanding our customers and anticipating where our industry is headed, it can also contribute to information overload. Not only that, but it can be confusing and sometimes conflicting. (For instance, the 2024 Pantone Color of the Year is Peach Fuzz, but the Garden Media Group’s Color of the Year is Cyber Lime - they couldn’t be more different.) Other times, we may struggle to understand how we can apply certain trends to our corner of the industry - the resurgence of “stumpery”, the rise of poultry in the garden, and insect taxidermy are a few examples that come to mind.    

If you’re like me, you may have begun to feel a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of “top 10” lists and trend reports that are seemingly available from every industry marketing group, influencer, and garden blogger out there. Among the many trends listed for 2024 are: fruit trees, tropicals, rain gardens, gravel gardens, night gardens, sand gardens, outdoor dining gardens, goth gardens, hydrangeas, fragrant roses, grasses and sedges, edimentals, hanging plants, silver-hued plants, bold and joyful colors, dark and moody colors, and pollinator plants, just to name a few. Since it’s not practical for most of us to act on all of these trends in a single season, it seems that our best strategy is to choose a few things that we can do well and focus on those.

But, having said all this, we do feel fortunate to work in this industry at a time when we have so much information at our disposal; it’s up to us to internalize that information and apply it in a way that makes sense. After immersing ourselves in trend reports and marketing survey data over the past several weeks, here are some of the key highlights for 2024:  

Gen Z will have a major influence on the future of our industry. As the Garden Media Group Trends Report explains, this next generation is motivated and is making an impact; they’re already ahead of Millennials and Gen X when it comes to homeownership. Gen Z are digital natives, and their purchasing habits reflect this. Whether it’s changing our inventory and pricing strategies or updating our websites and social media platforms, we need to adapt our businesses and our industry to accommodate their shopping preferences.

Climate change and the environment are still front and center when it comes to what motivates and inspires many of today's gardeners, especially our young gardeners. We’ve seen the demand for pollinator plants increase rapidly over the past several years, and it’s only growing. Movements like “leave the leaves” continue to bring attention to actions that homeowners, gardeners, and everyday people can take to promote environmental stewardship. Gardeners continue to embrace plant and design choices and gardening methods that are low maintenance and sustainable. 

Brands and varieties are major factors for new gardeners. According to Axiom’s New and Novice Gardener Study, national brands, store brands, and specific varieties were voted as the top three factors that influenced their purchasing decisions.

Gardeners value independent garden centers as important resources for learning and information. In Axiom’s 2024 Gardening Outlook Survey, IGCs ranked ahead of websites and social media as the top source for information about new plants and gardening supplies.  

Seed purchases are on the rise, especially with new gardeners. As more and more gardeners look to grow their own food, they have found that starting plants from seed is an economical way to do this.

Lastly, according to both of Axiom’s recent surveys, gardeners of all ages reported feeling successful with their gardening efforts last year, and they plan to spend more time and money on gardening in 2024. This is despite all the concerns about a possible recession, the rising costs of gas and groceries, increasing numbers of employees returning to work, global unrest, and an upcoming presidential election. Ultimately, I think this tells us that we have every reason to feel optimistic about the future of our industry, in 2024 and beyond.