Originally published in the June 2013 print issue of Casual Living

This year, 2.2 million U.S. households have plans to buy a conversation group. In 2012, nearly 2 million consumer households shopped for one, with three-fourths of shoppers actually buying and spending more than $800 million at retail. Those top-line figures derive from Casual Living's 2013 Consumer Buying Trends Survey. The exclusive, nationally representative survey asked 3,000 U.S. households the outdoor furniture they bought in 2012, how much they spent and what they plan to buy in 2013. Buyers spent a median of $350, with households living in the South spending the most, a median of $425, and those living in the Midwest spending the least, a median of $280. Overall, 35% of consumers paid less than $300, 19% spent between $300 and $399, 23% between $400 and $599, 16% paid $600 to $999, and 7% of buying households spent $1,000 or more on a new conversation group last year. In this exclusive report, Casual Living presents the detailed information on conversation group shopping and buying plans. The consumer data originates from the responses of 3,000 U.S. households to an online survey conducted in December 2012. Casual Living worked with TNS, a Kantar Group Company. U.S. households told Casual Living if they shopped for conversation groups in 2012, if they bought, how much they spent and if they plan to buy in 2013. Because of the sample size and a respondent profile closely matching the demographics of all U.S. households, survey data can be projected nationally with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8%.

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