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In preparation for future media and creative development for the pitch we would like to get an understanding of the Pool retail store market. Specifically we seek to learn the following: * Picture of the typical pool-owner - behaviors and motivations of pool owners, primary benefits of owning a pool, and barriers
Most pool owners are families with children under 18, making between $50,000-$150,000 per year. Most hold professional jobs and have completed college. Almost all of them regularly use the internet. Barriers to owning a pool include: high cost of install, high cost of maintenance, and the beliefs that they won't use the pool very much or that it won't add value to their home. Motivations for owning a pool include: recreation, relaxation, fitness, therapy, entertaining and aesthetics.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Pool and Spa identifies itself as "The World's Oldest & Largest Website For Swimming Pool & Hot Tub Spa Owners With Over 5000 Pages Of Information, Parts And Supplies". This website lists demographics for pool owners, and the data they list is from 2017.
The demographics for the market group of pool owners in the US are as follows:
78% of pool and spa owners are married, own a home and over 50% of their children under the age of 18 are still living at home. This group normally is made of dual income couples. The people are normally between ages 35 and 64 and earn on average between $50,000 and $150,000 per year. In this group, more than half are currently in business, managerial and professional jobs. Additionally, more than half have a college education, or higher.
Overall, more than 95% of pool and spa buyers regularly browse the web. This is important information because most people who plan on buying a pool research it over the Internet before they decide on the model to purchase.
If we look for individual statistics, 55% of pool owners are men. On top of that, 51% of houses that have pools are homes without children. 85% of pool owners are Caucasian. The pools are most popular in California (9.41%), then New York (7.54%) and Florida (6.42%). Most popular general interests of people purchasing pools are: home and garden, food and drink, and education and employment. Most popular media interests of people purchasing pools are: news magazines, NFL, and late night shows. 67% of pool owners are coupon users, while 64% own a laptop. 69% have an interest in photography, while 57% have an interest in cultural arts.
This report is from 2015 and was published in 2016, and is therefore somewhat out of scope when we consider Wonder's rule of including sources that are up to 24 months old. However, it was the most recent report we could find that provided comparable state data, which is the primary reason we are including it in this research.
California is in the lead for all types of pools. Florida and Texas are in second place when it comes to pool ownership.
Average income for in-ground pools is around $134,000. When it comes to above ground pools, it amounts to $79,000, and for hot tubs it is at $75,000.
When it comes to the education level, it is defined as "some college" for in-ground pools, and for above ground and hot tub it is defined as "college degree".
BARRIERS
In a study that "garnered more than 1,500 completed surveys from people who said they'd purchased a pool within the last five years, and more than 2,500 from people who didn't own a pool but made at least $75,000 annually," it can be seen that one barrier to owning a pool is the fact that most people (46%) believe they will only be able to use the pool 3-4 months out of the year.
Additional barriers include a high initial cost of installing compared to how much use a household can get from the pool, increase in insurance rates, maintenance time if maintenance is done by owners or maintenance costs if the maintenance is outsourced, costs of different smaller repairs, costs of accessories for the pools.
A barrier for buying in-ground pools is the highest price, when compared with other two categories (hot tubs and above ground pools).
MOTIVATIONS
Top motivators when it comes to purchasing a pool include: the need for recreation and relaxation, the willingness to work out and overall fitness trends, therapy, entertaining purposes and aesthetics.
Additionally, according to an APSP survey, 78% of respondents said that "the presence of the pool contributed to their decision to buy the house".
76% of pool owners shared to APSP that "they are extremely or very satisfied with their pools", while over 96% said consider themselves satisfied with their pools.
More than 67% of current pool owners says that they "strongly agree that a swimming pool is an ideal place to spend more time with the family".
Finally, houses that have pools are more attractive to buyers: "Swimming pools are by far the most sought-after feature" of future home-owners in 2017.
Paid reports
Additional information that is not included in this report can be found in a variety of reports that are behind a paywall. This list includes different market reports for the pool market in the US.
CONCLUSION
Most pool owners are families with children under 18, making between $50,000-$150,000 per year. California is in the lead for all types of pools. Florida and Texas are in second place when it comes to pool ownership. Swimming pools are by far the most sought-after feature" of future home-owners in 2017.