We’re so excited to bring you our first-ever trend report! With advice from our expert curator and Merchandising and Marketplace Manager, Tara Reed, our goal is to illuminate what people will be searching for this holiday season so you can plan ahead. Keep reading to find out what tops the lists for search trends, shopping volume and increasingly popular color themes to help you design, plan or shop through the rest of 2020.

Worldwide Shopping Trends

DIY – Quarantining these past few months has led to a renewed interest in all things DIY as well as easy home improvements.

There is a broader trend in DIY creating a revival of home sewing and DIY decor. Folks have more time at home and a desire to put a personal touch in every corner of their space. In addition—face masks have been an approachable re-entry project for many new and renewed crafters.”

– Emerson, Manager, Third Party Marketplace Strategy

Spoonflower sales increased 167% YoY for the first half of 2020.  Check out our recap of Q2 to learn more. We’re so honored that customers are discovering and supporting Spoonflower during this time. 

Face Masks – With masks now being required in many places, the need for these products is skyrocketing. We’ve seen some awesome cut-and-sew options pop up in the Marketplace!

Looking for DIY kits or premade masks? Check out our mask options here.

Online Shopping – Overall online sales worldwide have seen an increase this year with a lot of customers shopping online for the very first time. We saw +281% new customers in Q2 across Spoonflower.com and our marketplace partnerships*. We foresee this trend continuing strong as we move into the holiday season.

As an artist you have a huge opportunity to be discovered and found by these customers.  In addition to optimizing your designs for discovery on Spoonflower.com, we encourage you to consider opting in to make your designs available for marketplaces if you haven’t explored this already.

* Learn more about our marketplace partnerships.

Tara’s Tip: Keep in mind that customers do their holiday shopping a few months in advance, so stay ahead by designing for the next season now.


Trending Searches

We researched the most searched for terms on Spoonflower so you can get a sense of the kinds of designs that are rising in popularity and see what new themes have popped up this year.

Here’s what customers have been searching for most recently:

  1. Black Lives Matter +55,000%
  2. Masks +8,000%
  3. Teacher +773%
  4. NSFW & Mature Content +730%
  5. Golf +445%
  6. Tie Dye +300%
  7. Science +192%
  8. Cats +175%
  9. Retro +134%
  10. Novelty +100%

Did you know that we recently added a mature content filter on our site? You can find it at the bottom of the list of filters on any search page.

Fall & Autumn Search Trends

We compiled different fall and autumn related search terms to see how the search volume changed throughout the year.

Spoonflower's Autumn/Winter 2020 Trend Report | Spoonflower Blog

Halloween searches have doubled compared to last year and are continuing strong. They typically taper off by the end of September.

Winter Search Trends

For searches related to winter and holidays you can see they’re being searched for sooner compared to last year.

Spoonflower's Autumn/Winter 2020 Trend Report | Spoonflower Blog


Trending Home Products

Seasonal – Products we predict will gain popularity in Q4

Tea Towels
Demand for tea towels increases the most from October – December.
Designs that sell best: Engineered prints (specifically designed for tea towels) and calendars.

Need more inspiration? Check out our upcoming Tea Towel Design Challenges for October.

Tara’s Tip: Update your tea towel calendars for the next year before the start of October so they’re ready for holiday shoppers!

Throw Blankets
Interest in throw blankets is up significantly this year.

Tablecloths
More tablecloths are purchased in Q4 to prep for family gatherings.
Designs that sell best: Traditional motifs and seasonal designs.

On the Rise Products rapidly gaining in popularity among consumers

Curtains
Designs that sell best: Medium and larger scale designs

Duvet Covers
Designs that sell best: Cooler color palettes (think blues and greens) as well as calming neutrals

Knife Edge Throw Pillows
Designs that sell best: Colorful and bright
Our throw pillows are available in 20″ and 18″ sizes and we’ve added an extra long lumbar option!

Top Selling

Wallpaper
Three types of wallpaper available, learn more.

Tara’s Tip: Be sure to set and save the scale for your designs on wallpaper. Not sure where to start? Check out this blog post for tips on designing wallpaper.


What’s Next?

Tara: Now that you know what’s been trending, here’s a look at what we think is coming next. We hope you feel inspired by these trends and use them as a jumping-off point!

Upcoming Design Trends & Themes

  • Nature (bringing the outdoors in) and retro botanicals – For wallpaper
  • Contour drawing – Great for wallpaper and home decor
  • Micro scales – For fabric and masks
    • People are becoming deeply proud of their personal sense of style and want to express that with custom masks.
  • Bananas
  • Reptiles (Alligators, Turtles, Snakes)
  • Unconventional paisley
    • Think of ways to bring different motifs into paisley. Take time to reimagine it.
  • Block printing
  • 70s
  • Toile – This is especially popular on wallpaper and for upholstery type projects

Tara’s Tip: When working on magazines we curate designs 4-5 months ahead of the season they’re launching in. We are always checking out newly uploaded designs, so be sure to add designs periodically!

Color Predictions

Calming neutrals will take center stage towards the end of the year and well into the New Year. These soothing colors give a loving nod to nature, helping to balance out all the time worked from home by bringing the outdoors into your space in a subtle way.”

– Tara Reed, Merchandising and Marketplace Manager


Now it’s your turn!

What trends and colors do you see getting popular between now and the end of the year? And is there anything you think we missed that you want us to include in our next trend report? Leave a comment to let us know, we’d love to get your feedback!