Gespräch mit Liu Jiake, Gründer von Outer: Der 6.000-Dollar-Sofa für draußen ist nur der Anfang, das modulare Gartenareal ist das endgültige Ziel | Exklusives Interview von Hardcore Krypton

Author: Ou Xue

Editor: Peng Xiaoqiu

Outer has made another new move. This time, it is launching its second major product.

In 2018, Outer became popular for the first time. Back then, with an innovative outdoor sofa priced at $6,000, it successfully broke into the high - end market: just 11 months after the launch of its first product, the monthly sales exceeded $2 million, and the overall performance in 2020 increased tenfold. It is worth mentioning that the traffic composition of its official website liveouter.com shows that direct visits accounted for as high as 40.15%, which confirms its strong brand recognition.

This directly led to an astonishing 150% increase in the customer repurchase rate between 2020 and 2021. It can be said that Outer's original "neighbor showroom" marketing model covered thousands of family courtyards within a year, proving that private backyards can be transformed into the most persuasive sales scenarios.

"I think Outer has not only changed the appearance and style of the products but also their essence," said Liu Jiake, the founder of Outer. Outer requires its fabrics to meet the "golden triangle" standard - being durable, comfortable, and environmentally friendly. This is also the key to Outer's popularity.

By 2024, Outer had achieved profitability. In addition, Outer successfully obtained a $50 million Series B financing from Capital Today.

Looking back now, although Outer successfully entered the US market as a disruptor, many people at that time thought it was just another futile attempt at "high - endization". Fortunately, Outer grasped the needs of users at that time. In the US backyards, the monotonous wicker sofas had long bored people - what people longed for was not just to move the living room to the lawn, but a truly personalized outdoor living space of their own.

Despite its remarkable achievements, the outdoor furniture industry has always lagged behind the indoor furniture field in terms of R & D investment. Developing outdoor products with characteristics such as durability, crack and pest resistance, and easy cleaning still poses a major challenge to manufacturers. This time, Outer has spotted new opportunities and demands.

As outdoor activities become more and more popular, the global courtyard economy is being re - evaluated. So in this year (2025), Outer began to develop the "courtyard" as its next "island". It intends to transform from the "king of single products" to a "backyard developer" and once again target the global courtyard market with its upcoming pre - fabricated modular space solutions.

Before Outer's upcoming launch of its second main product, we had an in - depth exchange with Liu Jiake on topics such as the development of the global courtyard market, Outer's product layout, and the impact of Sino - US trade frictions on the US market.

01 The Global Courtyard Economy

Yingke: How do you view the current development stage of the global courtyard economy and its growth trend in the next 5 - 10 years?

Liu Jiake: We can discuss our views on the global courtyard economy market from a macro perspective. Taking the US market as an example, there are about 150 million households in the US, and less than 90 million of them are so - called "single - family homes", which are detached villas rather than high - rise apartments. This is completely the opposite of the situation in China. Among these 90 million single - family homes, 92% have backyard spaces, that is, outdoor spaces. Calculated in this way, the scale of the courtyard economy market is quite large, so it is like "uncultivated land" for us.

Outdoor furniture is just the first category we chose to enter the courtyard economy. This year, we are about to launch our second main product, a modular outdoor living space construction technology and solution. Therefore, our next focus is to enter the niche market of courtyard decoration, develop so - called standard products, and tap into its huge potential.

This field has a much larger market space than outdoor furniture. The market size of outdoor furniture in the US is about $6 - 9 billion, while the entire furniture market is about $150 billion. In contrast, the courtyard decoration market, including patio arrangement, tree - planting, and backyard maintenance, has a scale of up to $180 billion, even exceeding the total of the entire furniture market.

Yingke: You mentioned that courtyard decoration is the company's future key entry field. What are the differences between this upcoming modular product and the previous outdoor sofa? What is the strategic thinking?

Liu Jiake: Outer's outdoor sofa is regarded as a high - end single product in the public eye. It targets the top 2% of the pyramid in the US, with an average customer price of about $6,000. We can't say that such a sofa is a luxury, but it is indeed close to a luxury.

In contrast, the pre - fabricated and modular decoration solution we are about to launch is a standard product. It is not a traditional decoration service but a standardization of projects that require heavy service and labor, achieved through the use of supply - chain resources and patented designs.

This actually allows us to enter a more mass - market, increasing from the previous 2% of the US market to 40%. Although the average customer price is tens of thousands of dollars, several times higher than that of the outdoor sofa, our overall target market has become larger. Intuitively, spending tens of thousands of dollars can add up to hundreds of square feet of living space to a house, and the price per square foot is similar to that of building a house or indoor decoration, not particularly expensive. In addition, after purchasing this product, since it can easily utilize the backyard space and increase the living space, it may increase the value of the property in the future. This can be regarded as an investment measure, while buying a sofa is just a purchase behavior of a durable good. These are the main differences between the two.

We are actually entering a field we are good at, that is, products with high customer prices, heavy service, strong brand, and high - trust requirements. Although we are going to expand into the mass market next, a consumption of tens of thousands of dollars still requires brand endorsement and trust. Outer's large - scale brand - building investment in the early stage has laid a foundation for the exploration of the mass market.

Schematic diagram of Outer spaces new products (Source/Enterprise)

Yingke: As the customer group changes, will the positioning or tonality of the Outer brand also change?

Liu Jiake: To some extent, yes. But in our view, as long as a brand can occupy the high - end market, it can expand its derivative businesses, such as product expansion, channel expansion, and customer - group expansion. So this is a route that our company has planned for a long time. Outer's vision is to make outdoor living more accessible to the public and allow people to easily enjoy the courtyard space, which runs through both product lines.

Yingke: In your opinion, what are the most core pain points and unmet needs in the traditional courtyard furniture industry? How do these pain points create opportunities for Outer?

Liu Jiake: Traditional outdoor furniture is mostly developed by traditional furniture companies. Their thinking logic is to design the appearance and style, focusing on what kind of fabric and material are popular this year. We think this subjective aesthetic and non - standard product approach has limited value. Some styles may be popular this year but out of fashion next year, and we have always been quite resistant to this approach.

What we value are products with value and lasting power, which solve pain points through innovation. Many Americans find courtyard furniture troublesome. They want to enjoy it but also have to take care of it. We have solved the maintenance problem, allowing consumers to simply enjoy. Our first sofa solved the problem that the cushions were easy to get wet and dirty, making them easier to protect. This is the core of our first popular product.

We have always adhered to this direction. Our company has advantages in industrial design, chemical engineering resources, and patent development, which are not available to ordinary furniture companies. I think Outer has not only changed the appearance and style of the products but also their essence.

Yingke: Then how do you think the competition situation in the global courtyard economy field is currently?

Liu Jiake: Most courtyard brands are concentrated in the B2B market, such as in scenarios like hotels, restaurants, resorts, and shopping malls. These brands have relatively large scales globally, mostly from Germany and the US.

However, in the US C - end market, besides Outer, some small brands have also emerged one after another, but their overall scales are still relatively small. Currently, most of the outdoor furniture in the US C - end market still comes from traditional American furniture brands, and they mostly allocate their resources to other categories, with relatively less investment in outdoor furniture. This phenomenon can perhaps be called "neglect" or "underestimation", which is a great market opportunity for us.

Yingke: Outer seems to emphasize technological innovation in materials very much. Do you think this will become the key to industry reshuffle in the future?

Liu Jiake: I think so. For interior design, the main considerations for furniture are mostly focused on style and design. However, for outdoor furniture, materials are the key.

The outdoor environments faced by different customers are almost completely different. Outdoor furniture needs to adapt to various complex environments, such as humidity, heat, dryness, high salt content (e.g., by the sea), rain, snow, or extreme cold. This makes the choice of materials crucial. At the same time, outdoor furniture needs to ensure the durability of materials while also considering skin - friendly comfort. In addition, environmental protection is also an important consideration because traditional materials like plastics are not environmentally friendly. Therefore, we require our fabrics to meet the "golden triangle" standard - being durable, comfortable, and environmentally friendly.

02 The Chinese Market

Yingke: Then in the current global expansion, what is Outer's future regional strategy for key expansion?

Liu Jiake: In the C - end market, the US is definitely the largest market, and the domestic market in China is also good. Coincidentally, we have recently entered JD.com to start the online layout in the Chinese market as a high - end outdoor furniture brand. JD.com is very distinctive among domestic e - commerce platforms. It is currently the only platform that has separately classified outdoor furniture as a professional category, which also reflects its optimism about the development prospects of this field.

From my observation, the population structure in China is changing. In the future, low - density housing will become a trend. People with consumption ability are gradually gathering in residential environments with outdoor spaces, such as patios, backyards, or courtyards. Courtyard decoration is also gradually emerging in China. In rural areas, many houses are now built very large, with several floors and yards. Some people even start building swimming pools. This trend is becoming more and more obvious.

Although the market is not yet mature at present, and the market capacity for purchasing high - end outdoor furniture is not very large, this demand is real and gradually expanding. Since the establishment of the brand, I have hoped to bring the international brand Outer back to China to serve domestic customers. After all, our supply chain is in China, and I am Chinese myself. This matter is of great significance to me. Although the sales volume and commercial value may not be very high in the short term, it will definitely be very valuable in the long run.

Outer sofas are sold on JD.com (Source/Screenshot from JD.com platform)

Yingke: Is this cooperation with JD.com Outer's first entry into the domestic market? Or was there any previous layout?

Liu Jiake: This C - end cooperation was actually initiated by JD.com, so it is the first time. The domestic B - end market was earlier. Before entering JD.com, some high - end hotels and luxury homestays had already actively contacted us and asked if they could purchase our products. This shows that the demand for high - end outdoor furniture in the domestic market is relatively large, which is a good opportunity for us.

We are also considering setting up a team in China to be specifically responsible for this business. In fact, we are currently setting up an e - commerce operation team in Shenzhen, hoping to cooperate with hotels, restaurants, and other public places.

Yingke: In the C - end market, are there any other layout plans in the future in China?

Liu Jiake: The main plan is to cooperate with JD.com. There are no other ideas at present.

Yingke: What are the differences between the Chinese courtyard economy and that of foreign countries?

Liu Jiake: I may be an outsider in observing this aspect, as I have lived in the US for a long time. But from the overall trend, I think the Chinese courtyard economy has great potential in the future.

Currently, Chinese consumers are becoming more and more enthusiastic about outdoor activities, which is somewhat similar to the situation in the US decades ago. However, China's development speed is obviously faster because it has a strong supply - chain system. I am very optimistic about the development prospects of the Chinese courtyard market in the next 10 years.

Yingke: The e - commerce operation team in Shenzhen was established in 2024. What other work is it specifically responsible for?

Liu Jiake: This small team in Shenzhen is still in the intensive recruitment stage. Our plan is to make China the headquarters of e - commerce operations. The logic is actually very clear. It can be said that in the first three years, we mainly focused on product polishing, and in the first five years, the brand took shape and occupied a certain position in the US market. Next, our operation focus is on selling products.

In Shenzhen, I have contacted many peers and competitors, whether they are engaged in cross - border e - commerce or e - commerce operations. I found that the talent density, iteration speed, and upgrading speed in China are extremely amazing. Especially after the emergence of AI technology, the cultural and language barriers have also been well compensated.

Therefore, I am very determined to place e - commerce operations in China. In the US, we may retain some customer - facing positions, such as content creation and community operation, which are more suitable for local people to be closer to the consumer market. But all other positions will be gradually transferred to China.

Yingke: In 2025, geopolitical frictions have heated up again, and the uncertainties between China and the US have increased. How do you view the current situation of Chinese brands going global?

Liu Jiake: I think it has become a necessity for brands to go global. If we still follow the traditional model, such as simply relying on platforms like Amazon or Douyin, the long - term value of this model is becoming less and less obvious. After all, this model mostly relies on small profits but high turnover. Coupled with the impact and uncertainties brought by external factors such as tariffs, it will become more and more difficult in the future.

Therefore, for brands going global, it is necessary to truly build a brand, which includes not only the construction of independent websites but also offline layout. In the US, offline brand building is actually very important and has even become an urgent task. Chinese overseas enterprises are also thinking about how to make differences, which I think is a good trend.

03 The Development of the US Market

Yingke: Does the uncertainty between China and the US have an impact on the US courtyard furniture market?

Liu Jiake: Yes, I think it can be viewed from two aspects: on the one hand, costs and profits are facing challenges. With the emerging supply - chain trend in Southeast Asia, US outdoor furniture sellers, especially those relying on the Chinese supply chain, may have to raise prices. On the other hand, sales volume is affected. This may eliminate a number of sellers in homogeneous competition.

However, from our perspective, this is an opportunity. As a high - end brand, we have a relatively large bargaining space and can withstand fluctuations in costs such as tariffs and shipping. We have certain advantages in the short term. Of course, in the long run, we definitely