Merchandise sales continue to grow year over year while Music sales slide.. in 2014, CD's/vinyls/cassettes were 22% of total sales. In 2017, that reduced to 16%.  The category breakdown of 2019 sales? 12% music, 57% apparel, and 31% accessories/other items.

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Why Should I Care?

We're often asked, "is it worth taking music on the road?"  While it makes sense to have an item or two of your music with you, keep in mind the fact sales of music are dropping. Music typically has a low profit margin, breaks, is heavy, and takes up room in the trailer and booth.  Take the most recent release and leave the back catalog at home!

Year over year the top selling color for apparel is unsurprisingly, black. On average, artists will have at least 3 band T-Shirts that are black, with the most popular size tied between M and L.

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Why Should I care?

While we may think, "surely fans are sick of black shirts"...they aren't.  While a couple color options are good, when planning your inventory needs be sure to follow the data and stock up on the black tour Tees

T Shirts continue to be the #1 item purchased for artist merchandise, and as merchandise continues to grow in the industry, we are starting to see changes in pricing. In 2019 the average price of a T Shirt is $35, up +$3 from 2018 and up +$5 from 2017.

‍why should I care?

Industry averages can help determine whether you want to raise or lower your T Shirt prices. The $35 price for this year is encompassing of all genres and a key indicator of what fans are comfortable paying. Consider the trend for your specific genre, it could vary from Pop to Rock to Alternative to Comedian.

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40% of merchandise sales consistently occur between 6 and 9 PM. The remaining 60%, however, is shifting earlier and earlier from post-concert to pre-concert. In 2015, 19% of merchandise sales were between the hours of 3 and 6 PM, in 2019 that has increased to 28%.

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Why Should I Care?

‍Staffing & Inventory. With more fans purchasing before the show's start, ensure you have the staff pre-event to accomodate the rush as well as inventory to meet the demand. For large shows, issue enough inventory to supply all stands then check back for adds. atVenu Register will give you real time updates on inventory levels by stand to ensure you have enough during the rush.

Let’s put this one to rest. More items do not equal more sales! 600K+ shows tell us, on average, 73% of gross sales per show is made up of only 4 items. That’s it. That’s a black t-shirt and 3 other items.

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Why Should I Care?

Touring with a large product line has many factors you have to take into account: storage and inventory management, display space, average transaction time, average time it takes fans to select an item, inventory costs, and the additional time to count in and out of each location. Having options for your fans is great but a large volume of options is not the best approach to maximize tour merch profitability. Less is more in this case.

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