Not every camping product needs to be a large or expensive purchase.
For retailers, smaller and practical products such as picnic mats can play an important role in creating a complete outdoor assortment.
A picnic mat can be useful for camping, beaches, parks, family outings and casual outdoor gatherings. That makes it a product with applications well beyond the traditional campsite.
Why Picnic Mats Are Useful for Retailers
One of the biggest advantages of picnic mats is their versatility.
A customer may buy one for:
- A family picnic
- A beach visit
- Camping
- Outdoor meals
- Children’s activities
- Weekend outings
That broad use case can make the product relevant to several types of shoppers.
A Good Complementary Product
Picnic mats are particularly useful as a cross-selling product.
For example, a customer purchasing a tent could also need a mat for sitting outside or laying it under the tent.
Someone purchasing a beach umbrella may want a mat underneath it.
A family purchasing a cooler may also need somewhere comfortable to sit.
Focus on Practical Features
When choosing picnic mats for a retail assortment, practical features can be more important than simply choosing the most visually attractive product.
Retailers should consider factors such as:
- Size
- Portability
- Durability
- Ease of cleaning
- Water resistance
- Folding and storage convenience
These are the types of characteristics customers can easily understand and compare.
A Useful Product for Online Stores
Picnic mats can also work well for online retailers because they are relatively straightforward to demonstrate through product photography.
A good product listing can show the mat folded for transportation, fully opened, being used at a picnic and alongside camping equipment.
This helps customers understand both the product and its scale.
Don’t Underestimate Smaller Products
Retailers sometimes focus heavily on large-ticket camping equipment while overlooking the smaller products that complete an outdoor trip.
A successful camping section should include products at different price points.
Picnic mats can help make the category accessible to customers who may not be ready to purchase a complete camping setup.
For retailers, the goal isn’t simply to stock camping products. It is to create an assortment that gives customers reasons to buy several useful products together.