Survey of 300+ landscapers reveals current buying trends

Landscape company operators (LCOs) and other contractors are working with more distributors and shopping online more often for supplies as they look for scarce materials and seek higher prices, new survey data shows.

HMI Performance Incentives surveyed 750 contractors, with nearly 40 percent of those being LCOs, to learn about trends driving contractor decisions on where they purchase their materials.

The research, conducted by Channel Marketing Group and with the support of HMI partners Prokeep and SproutLoud, found that contractors use 3.5 suppliers on average, and 75 percent are using e-commerce tools to find better prices or higher availability.

The biggest factor for contractors was availability with 83.5 percent of respondents saying distributors had to have supplies available or obtainable in a reasonable amount of time. The No. 2 and No. 3 issues were pricing and delivery options.

Lincoln Smith, chief strategy officer of HMI Performance Incentives, an incentive/loyalty company, said, “This research provides distributors and manufacturers further insight into contractors and their decision drivers as well as what is impacting their channel choices. While some remain the same, contractors are changing their buying criteria.”

Click here to obtain a copy of the report and register for the upcoming webinar where findings are discussed.