Digitally-driven Millennials may be more of a target audience for your garden business than you guessed - especially since they care about the environment. In fact, 29% want to make the world a better place.
Millennials want to recycle, repurpose and up-cycle anything and everything. And let’s not forget, they are a huge up-and-coming demographic for retail; we're talking $200 billion in annual buying power.
Your garden brand needs to take advantage of this generation's interest in sustainability and show them how gardening can help them be better stewards of the earth.
Read on to find out what garden trends matter to Millennials in the garden and outdoor living world.
Garden-tainment
Millennials are finding new, social ways to enjoy the garden with friends and family. Plus, as homes shrink, people are utilizing and transforming outdoor spaces into entertaining spaces.
Entertaining in the garden has become so popular that the U.S. demand for outdoor products is expected to increase 4% in 2015 to almost $7 billion.
Catch Millennials’ attention in the garden center by holding socially-driven container or terrarium how-to's that are short and sweet.
Sell them on succulents, which they love! Or, show them how to cook fresh food from the garden and how to redecorate the patio with three easy tricks.
The key is to create easy, quick solutions using your garden products.
Some examples include functional, ornamental traps, low-maintenance plants, and party-ready containers in a variety of colors!
SuperFoods + Super Drinks
Superfoods take edibles to the next level.
Millennials want to know where their food comes from and are more interested in diet, nutrition and health than ever before.
They're growing specialty veggies and herbs at home if they're too expensive or hard to find at the grocery store.
No matter what they grow, Millennials have latched onto the ‘drink the garden,’ trend, with garden-to-glass cocktails, juicing, and green smoothies.
Plus, interest in growing grapes, grains and hops is booming, with nearly 1 million Americans brewing their own beer and making their own wine.
For Millennials, plants need to do double-duty: look good and taste good.
Portable Gardening
Photo Credit: NativeCast
Millennials want to be able to garden anywhere, no matter how small the space or how long they’ll be there.
They crave lightweight containers and LOVE berries in containers (like Brazelberries®) since they're delicious, nutritious and easy to care for.
Here are a few specific portable gardening trends that will surely entice Millennials:
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Pop-up raised beds because of their adaptability.
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Edibles in containers keep it simple.
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Low-maintenance succulent gardens.
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Hydroponics: blending the natural and the technological.
Fingertip Gardening
Millennials are 2.5 times more likely to embrace technology and new digital, social and mobile channels, which is why they love:
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Solar components
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Mobile app add-ins
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SoLoMoCo which is the intersection of social, location, mobile and commerce.