Shoppers splash out on BBQs and garden furniture ahead of lockdown easing

Shoppers are busy sprucing up their gardens and outdoor living spaces to welcome family and friends once Covid restrictions on outdoor gatherings in England are eased later this month.

Asda has seen a significant uptick in demand across its outdoor and garden categories since the Government confirmed that people can meet with one other household in private gardens from 29th March onwards.

Total sales in the outdoor category have increased 120% year-on-year, driven by huge demand for BBQ and garden furniture – with sales in both categories up by over 400% year-on-year. Asda also saw strong demand for garden accessories, tools, and seeds as customer ready their gardens in anticipation of hosting visitors in an outdoor setting.

The opportunity for some shoppers to spend more on gardens and outdoor spaces ahead of Spring could also be linked to a rise in disposable income as the ongoing Covid-related restrictions restricts opportunities to spend.

The Asda Income Tracker, which measures disposable income, showed that families were on average £25.28 better off in January compared to a year before - an annual increase of 11.5%.

The strong increase in disposable income has also been supported by a sixth consecutive month of wage and total pay growth reaching a high of 5.4% in December – the highest figure since February 2010.

Rob McWilliam, Asda’s Chief Finance Officer said:

“Some households will be in the fortunate position of seeing their disposable incomes rise during lockdown due to a lack of spending opportunities. After spending months apart from families and friends, it’s understandable that they want to spend money on getting their gardens and homes ready in time for warmer months ahead.

“We are seeing strong signs of customers spending across all our outdoor categories as customers tidy up their gardens and entertaining spaces, as well as a renewed investment in spring/summer fashion across our George lines.

“We expect that our online sales of outdoor items, such as patio furniture and BBQ’s to continue to remain strong as we get closer to spending more times outside and we continue to invest in these lines to ensure our customer receive great product value and quality.”