Fence Industry Wildcard: "DOGS".

As implied in previous articles by the Fence Wizard the residential fence installation market is enduring a complete recession in "most" American markets and will likely get worse in the short term. One bright spot - new dog owners. Americans have a love affair with dogs. Chances are if a homeowner has no dog; they will get one soon. In addition, new laws such as the no chain law in California are basically forcing some Dog Owners to repair, replace, or add a new fence to comply. It is vital to focus on any trend that could make your company more competitive. The facts are clear, more Americans are getting pets and they are spending more money on pets every year.
Here is some relevant data from the APPMA (American Pet Products Manufacturers Association):

• In 1988, the first year the survey was conducted, 56% of U.S. households owned a pet as compared to 63% in 2006

Total U.S. Pet Industry Expenditures

Year............... Spending (in billions)

2007............... $40.8 Est.
2006............... $38.5
2005............... $36.3

2004............... $34.4

2003............... $32.4

2002............... $29.5

2001............... $28.5

1998............... $23

1996............... $21

1994............... $17

Now, we know we have demand for anything relevant to pet owners and specifically dog owners. Lets address a big problem: "ELECTRONIC DOG FENCING" or "INVISIBLE FENCE". I have linked our readers to these products on the sidebar under "Fence Builders Enemy". Indeed it is exactly that and for a couple hundred bucks homeowners can avoid a $ 5 -10,000 perimeter fence installation. So lets review your sales technique if you think your customer might go to the dark side......
Invisible fence will NOT:
1. Keep out other animals
2. Protect your animals from attack by other animals
3. Keep out thieves
4. Keep out vandals
5. Keep out Jehovah's Witness's
6. Most importantly - it will not guarantee a pet from escape
7. It Can and Will effectively lock your dog out if they get excited and breach the perimeter then they may be too scared to return and suffer another shock.

Get your sales pitch straight, it only takes 2 minutes to explain why you would personally avoid the lure of a cheap invisible fence for your own animals. Be a good member of the community and stop by the local SPCA and even pet shops to leave your card. Develop relationships with others in the animal care industry including your local veterinarians. Use this bright spot in the market to your advantage - the growth in this area will not stop anytime soon.

Principia announces results of Fence Market Study...

Unfortunate for us, Principia does not believe in the free lunch philosophy that guides the Fence Wizard Blog. The major results of the survey are described HERE.
However, for the full report you will have to pony up some money. Here are the points that I wish to pass on to Fence Wizard readers:

1. Demand for residential fence is estimated to be nearly $3 billion of the total fence market value in 2006. Steve Van Kouteren, a Principal at Principia Partners explains, “The residential fence market consists of five major fence styles including privacy, post and rail, chain link, ornamental, and post and wire/wire mesh. The market can also be segmented by the four distinct material segments including wood, metal, plastic and mineral-based or masonry materials. Wood and metal are the dominant materials used, accounting for over 70% of the total value.”

2. In addition to vinyl fence, polystyrene, wood-plastic composites (WPC), and polyethylene are the other plastic-based fence materials. Mr. Van Kouteren says that the recent study estimates demand for plastic fence materials in the North American residential market to be over $600 million or nearly 25% of the total market in 2006.

3. Plastic fence will continue to grow its market share over the next five years. Most demand growth will be for vinyl and for new wood-plastic composite privacy fence. Both materials will be replacing wood. Plastic fence manufacturers have developed new privacy fence products with embossed wood grain and earth tone colors as well as low gloss to mimic wood. The new WPC fence products have an edge over vinyl in regards to availability of a wide range of darker colors. Both vinyl and WPC suppliers are looking to take advantage of the growing consumer demand for low maintenance, non-shiny, white plastic fence by tapping into the huge portion of the wood privacy market that will not consider white vinyl as an option.

Compared to vinyl post-and-rail fence, which has successfully penetrated and displaced as much as 50% of wood in many regional markets, vinyl only has about a 16% share of the North American privacy fence market. The large wood privacy market is also a target for the foamed polystyrene and 100% polyethylene-based fence products.

Again, thank you to Principia for this 2006 Fence market review.