Outdoor Seating: Patterns and colors

By Judi Fulbright -- Casual Living, 2/1/2006

Solids and geometrics dominate sling seating, while solids and florals are the most popular patterns on cushion seating, according to casual furniture retailers. When it comes to color, retailers say taupe and beige still sell the best. Looking ahead, more retailers see solids posting even better sales figures on both cushions and slings, with some help from tone-on-tone variations.

When it comes to color, retailers say taupe and beige are the front-runners, hovering just above two-fifths of sales for cushion seating and just below for sling seating. It appears, though, that some consumers are stepping at least a little ways out of the neutral palette — bronze/copper was named the best-selling color on sling seating by 26% of retailers surveyed and red/orange was named as best-selling color on cushion seating by 17% of retailers. Both would have been unheard of as best-selling colors as recently as three years ago.

Retailers are trying to tempt consumers with high-fashion fabrics and trims. Even if they don't sell by the container-load, they serve to create excitement on the floor. Asked whether they placed orders for new looks in fabrics and trims for cushion seating, 51% of retailers said they ordered fabrics such as faux leather or with tassels or other decorative trim. Another 20% confessed they are still considering ordering these high-fashion fabrics.

Best-selling fabric pattern on ...
based on unit sales, 2005

	CUSHION SEATING		SLING SEATING
		percent of retailers projecting increase or decrease*		percent of retailers projecting increase or decrease*
floral	34%	-21%	7%	-37%
solid	33%	30%	44%	38%
stripe	15%	-7%	14%	-31%
geometric	10%	-6%	27%	9%
other**	8%	83%	8%	46%
* Derived by subtracting percentage of retailers saying sales of pattern are fading from percentage saying sales are growing. **Most popular "other" pattern mentioned on cushion seating was tone-on-tone, no other pattern was mentioned by more than one retailer; no "other" pattern was mentioned by more than one retailer on sling seating.

Best-selling dominant color on ...
based on unit sales, 2005

CUSHION SEATING		SLING SEATING
taupe/beige	44%	taupe/beige	37%
red/orange	17%	bronze/copper	26%
green	14%	brown	11%
brown	7%	white/ivory	8%
blue	6%	black/gray	7%
black/gray	4%	green	4%
other*	4%	blue	4%
white/ivory	3%	other**	3%
yellow	1%
other includes gold, earth tones, sage, burgundies, reds other includes brights and earth tones **51% placed an order for fashion-forward fabrics and trims for cushion seating

About the survey

Casual Living's annual fabric survey, conducted by fax and online in November and December 2006, represents more than 180 casual furniture retail outlets. For the purposes of the survey, retailers were asked about their unit sales for five-piece dining groups or separate seating pieces, with either cushions or slings. Well over 90% of the retailers responding carry either five-piece dining groups or other outdoor seating pieces. At least three-quarters of them offer such seating with both cushions and slings.

More than 40% of retailers answering the survey are casual furniture specialists, another one-fifth are pool and patio or hearth and patio stores. The remaining retailers include full-line furniture stores, garden centers, department and discount department stores, hardware/home improvement stores, offering outdoor furniture in five-piece dining groups or as separate seating pieces. About one-half of the responding retailers had annual sales for 2005 between $1 million and $2.99 million while about one-third had sales of less than $1 million. The remaining 17% had sales of more than $3 million.