In 2018, Outer entered the high-end outdoor furniture market with a USD 6,000 patio sofa that defied industry expectations. Within 11 months of launch, monthly sales exceeded USD 2 million. By 2020, revenue had grown tenfold.
But the brand’s ambition extended beyond simply building a better couch. It was also about building recognition. At one point, over 40% of Outer’s website traffic reportedly came from direct visits, a sign of strong consumer recall.
This brand affinity helped drive a 150% increase in customer repurchase rates between 2020–2021. A key factor behind the momentum was Outer’s grassroots showroom strategy: customers who bought the sofa could volunteer to host real-life demos in their own backyards, turning private patios into effective sales venues.
“Outer didn’t just change how the product looks, it changed what it fundamentally is,” said Liu Jiake, co-founder of Outer. The company aimed to meet three benchmarks for its fabrics: durability, comfort, and eco-friendliness. It’s a combination Liu credits for the brand’s viral appeal.
By 2024, Outer had reached profitability and raised USD 50 million in Series B funding from Capital Today.
At launch, many had dismissed Outer’s foray into the US market as another failed premiumization play. In hindsight, Liu said, timing was crucial. US consumers were increasingly disenchanted with conventional rattan-and-cushion sets, which felt at times like indoor pieces dragged outside. What buyers wanted instead was something more personal: an outdoor space that felt truly their own.
Even with its gains, Outer recognized the outdoor segment still lagged indoor furnishings in R&D investment. Designing low-maintenance products that resist cracks, pests, and weather damage remained a complex challenge. But Liu said the company saw opportunity where others hesitated.
With backyard living gaining global traction, Outer is now betting that its economic value is being redefined. This year, the company is rolling out a prefab modular living space product, signaling a shift from hit furniture maker to what it calls a “backyard developer.”
Ahead of the launch, 36Kr spoke with Liu about the evolving global yard economy, Outer’s expanding product roadmap, and how US-China trade tensions are reshaping the American market.
The following transcript has been edited and consolidated for brevity and clarity.
The global yard economy
36Kr: How do you see the global backyard economy evolving over the next five to ten years?
Liu Jiake (LJ): Let’s start from a macro view. In the US, there are around 150 million households. About 90 million of those are single-family homes, not apartment buildings or high-rise flats. That’s a big difference from China. Of those 90 million, roughly 92% have a backyard or outdoor space. That’s an enormous, largely untapped market.
Outdoor furniture was just our entry point into that market. This year, we’re launching a second major product line: a modular system for building outdoor living spaces. This marks our move into backyard renovation, which is a much larger vertical with serious growth potential.
To give you a sense of scale, the outdoor furniture market in the US is worth USD 6–9 billion. The entire furniture market is about USD 150 billion. But backyard renovation? That’s worth an estimated USD 180 billion, bigger than the entire furniture sector. It covers everything from patios and landscaping to tree planting and space conversions.
36Kr: How does this new modular solution differ from your original product, the outdoor sofa? And what’s the strategic thinking behind it?
LJ: Our sofa was built for the top 2% of the market. Think of it as veering close to luxury, with an average ticket price of around USD 6,000.
The new product, though, is a standardizable solution. Instead of relying on heavy service and labor, we’re applying supply chain leverage and patented design to simplify what’s typically a complex, hands-on renovation.
This opens us up to a much broader audience, expanding from 2% of the US market to about 40%. Although the ticket price is higher, it actually delivers more value. You’re not just buying a sofa. You’re adding hundreds of square feet of livable space to your home. In price-per-square-foot terms, it’s comparable to a home addition or interior renovation, and it could even boost property value.
We’re still operating in our zone of strength: high-ticket, service-heavy, trust-dependent products. Entering the mass market doesn’t mean dropping the premium positioning. It means scaling it. The brand work we’ve done over the last few years lays the foundation.
36Kr: With your audience shifting, will Outer’s brand tone change too?
LJ: To some extent, yes. But that has always been part of the plan. If you can win over the high-end customers, you can expand your reach. Our mission has always been to democratize outdoor living, making it simpler to enjoy the yard experience. That message resonates across both product lines.
36Kr: What pain points in the outdoor furniture space gave Outer an edge?
LJ: Most outdoor furniture companies approach design like fashion: they follow trends, change fabrics and finishes yearly, and treat it like aesthetic work. We don’t believe in that. To us, that’s a short-term mindset.
We’re focused on solving real problems through durable, valuable products. Many Americans love the idea of backyard living but hate the upkeep. Our first product solved that by making cushions that resist moisture and grime. We wanted customers to relax, not maintain.
That has been our north star. We’ve built up industrial design and chemical engineering capabilities, along with patents. Most traditional furniture companies don’t have that. We didn’t just change how the product looked, but alter what it fundamentally is.
36Kr: What does competition look like in this space today?
LJ: Most outdoor brands are focused on the B2B space, targeting hotels, restaurants, resorts, shopping malls. Those brands are fairly large and tend to come from Germany or the US.
In the US consumer market, it’s still fragmented. A few small brands are popping up, but they are mostly tiny. Most consumers still buy from legacy furniture companies, who allocate very little to outdoor lines. You could call it neglect, or just underinvestment. Either way, it’s a huge opportunity for us.
36Kr: Outer seems especially focused on material innovation. Do you think this could reshape the industry?
LJ: I do. Indoor furniture is all about style. Outdoor furniture, though, lives or dies by material science.
Every backyard is different: humid, dry, rainy, snowy, salty, or scorching. The materials have to hold up, and still feel good to the touch. On top of that, sustainability matters. Traditional plastics are falling out of favor. So our standard for fabric is for it to be durable, comfortable, and eco-friendly.
Expanding in China
36Kr: What regions will Outer focus on next as part of its global growth?
LJ: The US is still our biggest consumer market, but China is showing real promise. We just launched on JD.com to test online retail here. JD is unique. They are the only major platform that treats outdoor furniture as its own standalone category. That tells us they are bullish on the space.
China’s residential patterns are also changing. Wealthier consumers are gravitating toward low-density housing: homes with balconies, yards, or rooftops. You can see the trend in rural areas too, where people are building multi-level homes with large courtyards or even pools.
Right now, the high-end outdoor furniture market in China is still small, but the demand is real and growing. From day one, I’ve wanted Outer to serve Chinese consumers too. Our supply chain is based here, and I’m Chinese myself, so this matters to me personally. Even if it’s not a major market right away, it’s a long-term investment we believe in.
36Kr: Was the JD launch your first move into China’s consumer market?
LJ: Yes, this was our first direct-to-consumer initiative. JD actually reached out to us. Before this, we were already seeing demand from China’s B2B market, with hotels and luxury guesthouses starting to contact us about bulk orders. That showed us the appetite was there.
We’re now building a local team to manage this business. In fact, we’ve been putting together an e-commerce operations team in Shenzhen.
36Kr: Will there be additional B2C expansion in China?
LJ: For now, JD is our only planned channel.
36Kr: How does China’s backyard economy differ from overseas markets?
LJ: I may not be the expert as I’ve spent most of my life in the US, but from what I see, China’s backyard economy is just starting to rev up. Consumers are becoming much more enthusiastic about outdoor living. It reminds me of the US several decades ago, but things are moving faster here because of the supply chain advantages. I’m very optimistic about the next ten years.
36Kr: What is the Shenzhen team working on?
LJ: Right now, we’re still hiring. The idea is to base our entire e-commerce operations in China. It makes sense: the first few years were about product development and building the brand in the US. Now, it’s about scaling sales.
I’ve met a lot of peers and founders here. From the operational talent to the iteration speed and the ability to learn and adapt, everything’s on another level. And with artificial intelligence closing cultural and language gaps, it’s only accelerating.
We’ll keep some US-facing roles for functions like content creation and community engagement, but everything else will shift to China.
The US market and trade friction
36Kr: Has geopolitical tension between the US and China affected the outdoor furniture market?
LJ: Yes, in two ways. First, rising tariffs and costs are putting pressure on margins. Many sellers who rely on Chinese manufacturing will be forced to raise prices. Second, sales volume could take a hit, especially for undifferentiated products. Some players will get squeezed out.
But for us, that’s actually a short-term opportunity. As a premium brand, we have more pricing power and can better absorb supply chain fluctuations. Long term, of course, we’re hedging our bets by exploring sourcing in Southeast Asia and Mexico.
I’m more concerned about how these changes affect US consumer behavior. Our customers tend to own homes, stocks, and cars. They are sensitive to the economic cycle. If markets wobble, so do spending habits.
36Kr: How is Outer responding to these challenges?
LJ: We’re staying close to our customers. That’s the benefit of owning our distribution channels. On the supply side, many of our partners in China have already expanded overseas. While we’re considering overseas manufacturing too, quality control is paramount for us. If a factory can’t meet our standards, it doesn’t matter how much duty we save.
36Kr: Has this helped you validate your pricing power?
LJ: Absolutely. We can’t control the wind, but we can trim the sails. In uncertain times, what matters most is sticking to our core: product innovation and brand building. We’ve never wavered on that.
36Kr: Will you diversify beyond your own site and into other e-commerce platforms?
LJ: Not much. For us, e-commerce really just means our own independent site. That’s our main sales channel. We’ve built a team in Shenzhen specifically to run it.
That said, we’re testing Amazon and hiring for it now. The outdoor furniture category there is crowded and commoditized, but with our brand, our IP, and our differentiation, we think we can compete on quality and price.
36Kr: What are you selling on Amazon today?
LJ: Mostly small items like pillows, throws, and things like that. The numbers aren’t big, but the customer feedback has been solid. That’s a good signal for our strategy.
Personally, I manage Amazon from the US, and I’ve got to say, Chinese operators are light years ahead. The operational efficiency is staggering. Our goal is to bring that edge to our full product line, using the supply chain base we’ve built in Zhejiang and Guangdong.
36Kr: What challenges is Outer still facing?
LJ: In the short term? Plenty. There are policy shifts, cost pressures, market volatility, and hiring. But long term, we’re optimistic. It takes time to build a brand. It’s like a snowball, getting stronger as it rolls.
We’re playing the long game. We want to be profitable, self-sustaining, and continually improving. We don’t need to release new products every quarter, but every generation needs to be better than the last.
36Kr: What are Outer’s next key priorities?
LJ: Two big ones. First, building a team in China to support our outdoor living business. Second, successfully launching our second flagship product.
Longer term, we’re building an ecosystem. What we’re doing is more like backyard real estate development. Once we’ve built the infrastructure, we want to open it up by partnering with brands across fitness, cooking, home tech, and more.
We want to give brands a new venue for growth: an outdoor setting that’s threefold the size of a typical home interior. Whether it’s a gym, kitchen, sauna, office, theater, or golf simulator, we want Outer to be the go-to backyard platform.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Ou Xue for 36Kr.