# how to do hard data market research



## VOLCY

anyone know how to obtain stats and other info to do market research? senario: i want to make t shirts for people with short thumb nails in bird flu village.

i want the info below but do not know how to obtain it.

what is the population of short thumb nailed people in BFV?

how many short thumbed nailed people move to BFV a month, year, every 5 years?

what is the average income of short thumbed nailed people?

short thumbed nail people usually buy purple t shirts SO, 

how many purple t shirts are sold in bird flu village?

what is the average price paid for these purple t shirts?


i think yall get the message. where do i get demographic stats and such? ALSO, is there research on consumer spending on clothes available for specific regions? i.e. -- west bum flunk sells 98 million dollars worth of "urban apparel" a year.

peace and grease!


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## Rodney

If you need city demographic data, you could contact the city to see what resources they have available.

This forum thread has some info on market research sources for sales:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t7441.html

Also check infomat.com. They can do custom reports for you.


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## VOLCY

cool. thanks my friend.


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## LivingWage

I'm also looking for hard data and found the Infomat reports seem to have what I want. I'm looking for people that would be interested in buying and sharing this report: The Usa T Shirts Market Research Report.

(It's expensive)

If anyone is interested in buying this with me, let me know.


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## tim3560

This is both very informative and also one of the most imaginative posts I've ever read.


VOLCY said:


> anyone know how to obtain stats and other info to do market research? senario: i want to make t shirts for people with short thumb nails in bird flu village.
> 
> i want the info below but do not know how to obtain it.
> 
> what is the population of short thumb nailed people in BFV?
> 
> how many short thumbed nailed people move to BFV a month, year, every 5 years?
> 
> what is the average income of short thumbed nailed people?
> 
> short thumbed nail people usually buy purple t shirts SO,
> 
> how many purple t shirts are sold in bird flu village?
> 
> what is the average price paid for these purple t shirts?
> 
> 
> i think yall get the message. where do i get demographic stats and such? ALSO, is there research on consumer spending on clothes available for specific regions? i.e. -- west bum flunk sells 98 million dollars worth of "urban apparel" a year.
> 
> peace and grease!


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## Comin'OutSwingin

LivingWage said:


> I'm also looking for hard data and found the Infomat reports seem to have what I want. I'm looking for people that would be interested in buying and sharing this report: The Usa T Shirts Market Research Report.
> 
> (It's expensive)
> 
> If anyone is interested in buying this with me, let me know.


I've seen this report and read it pretty thoroughly. I don't think it's worth anything near what they're asking for it. Most of the important things you can find out yourself, just by doing some "grunt" work. It's not that hard to find if you know what you're looking for.

But, if you happen to have $1,200 dollars lying around, and not a lot of time on your hands, knock yourself out!


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## LivingWage

I can't imagine how to find this info. I spent about a week last year looking for industry and market share information and couldn't find any. Do you have any facts from the report that you'd be willing to share (market share info etc.) I have several questions I need to answer for my business plan.

If so, PM me and we can talk.


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## Comin'OutSwingin

I've got lots of stuff! 

What specifically are you looking for? 

I can answer some of your questions here, so that others may get the help also.
If you have something that's VERY specific, PM me and I won't mind helping at all.


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## LivingWage

THANK YOU SO MUCH for responding to my message. Posting here is great, unless you feel I'm being too detailed. Mainly, I'm looking for information about the t-shirt market in terms of consumer breakdown and sales trends.

Here are a few questions off the top of my head. I may have more, but this is a lot for right now. Some of this information I have conflicting answers to, so I'm putting them down here as well.

1. What are the age breakdowns of consumer buyers. (i.e. 18-25, 25-35 etc.)
What is the largest consumer buying market for *blank* cotton t-shirts, in terms of age, demographics and gender. How many t-shirts do these consumers buy each year?

2. What is the largest buying market for *fashion* (silkscreen, printed etc.) t-shirts, in terms of age, demographics and gender. How many t-shirts do these consumers buy each year?

3. What is the fastest growing consumer market for the t-shirt industry? Are men buying more t-shirts now than women?

4. Is the market for children's t-shirts growing?

5. In terms of women's t-shirts, has there been a decline in standard t-shirt design. In other words, are t-shirt bodies with unusual necklines, capped sleeves etc. doing more business in the younger female market?

6. What are the most successful price points in terms of a mainstream audience (18-35, 30-50K per year). 

7. What is the market share of the t-shirt industry within all of fashion? Has this share grown in the past 5 or 10 years?

8. In terms of retailers, what is the size of the boutique market and how many blanks and fashion t-shirts are sold in the US each year? Is there a breakdown of the market for those sales?

9. What is the percentage of retailers that purchase from tradeshows? What is the percentage that purchase from catalogs and other sources?

10. What is the percentage of conusmers that purchase t-shirts online?

11. How much of a consumer interest is there in organic, fair trade and ethical t-shirt purchasing? Is there any growth in the ethical market (in terms of percentage). **I have the figures on American Apparel


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## Comin'OutSwingin

You do have some specific questions. Well, I know that the answers to most of those questions can be found without spending the $1,200. But, you will have to dig for it.

I can help with a few of these, but it's going to take me some time.

Company Information from Hoover's including business reports and profiles, check for a free trial
Current Industrial Reports - Apparel (MQ315A)

Check those out in the mean time. PM to remind me, because I'm pretty busy and I have a tendency to forget!


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## loveelectra

I looking for the same sort of information to complete a business and marketing plan. Thanks for the responses. I found these as well:

Cotton Incorporated - Textile Consumer Volume 18 June 2000 - April 24, 2007

Cotton Incorporated - Texitle Consumer Volume 38 Spring 2006 - April 24, 2007

TECHNOLOGY: E-Commerce Report; As women start to use the Internet more for shopping, the prospects sharply improve for on-line retailers. - New York Times

Mass Customization & Open Innovation News: T-Shirts

Regards
Kevin 
Love Electra


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## rpepper

*Re: UK market size & trends??*

Hi, I'm new to the Tshirt forum (so bear with me if I'm treading on toes here). I'm very impressed with the general standard and scope of Q&A (this thread in particular). I'm trying to find a source of information for the size and growth trends for the UK T shirt market. Ideally I would like data on the previous 3 years. Big simple questions initially, i.e what is it £ worth? how many item sold? is it growing, shrinking or static?. I realise this is the start to a larger, more complex set of questions, but these are the broad points that I need to cover to begin with... all help and advice will be much appreciated, many thanks..


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## TripleT

> I looking for the same sort of information to complete a business and marketing plan. Thanks for the responses. I found these as well:


For ROI (Rate of Return) and other management stats, try bizstats.com


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## doggonit

Have you found other people to go in with you on this? I would be interested.
cheers,

doggonit


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## SBEMedia

Before getting bogged down in research and throwing a bunch of 'stats' into a business plan, what goals or answers are you searching for? I'm not trying to say that this is a feckless excercise, but I've seen many people get lost in data because they really didn't know the right questions to ask. Good questions to ask, at least in the starting phases of your business, what is your end goal? Are there others in the market who are doing something similar? If so, are they a public or private enterprise? If public, can I get year end reports, what are there marketing streams, target market, etc.? 

Once you can answer some of these questions, then you'll get a handle on what information you need and can then focus your energy and time on getting real answers. Just my two cents, or perhaps five....


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## GetDirT09

Preparing a business plan and marketing plan for my t-shirt business included trying to find the statistics for the t-shirt biz as well as the demographic data I wanted. I did a ton of research and put together some links that I found helpful when doing my research. I hope you find these links helpful:


E-Commerce Stats - E-Stats U.S. Census Bureau
Retail E-Commerce Stats - Quarterly Stats U.S.Census Bureau
Demographic Data - U.S. Quickfacts
Population Projections - U.S. Population Projections U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Stats - American FactFinder
T-Shirt Market Data - T-Shirt Forums | Market Research
Industry Data - ZapData
T-Shirt Web Stats - Shirt.Woot.com Sales Statistics


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## GraduateClothing

GetDirT09 said:


> Preparing a business plan and marketing plan for my t-shirt business included trying to find the statistics for the t-shirt biz as well as the demographic data I wanted. I did a ton of research and put together some links that I found helpful when doing my research. I hope you find these links helpful:
> 
> 
> E-Commerce Stats - E-Stats U.S. Census Bureau
> Retail E-Commerce Stats - Quarterly Stats U.S.Census Bureau
> Demographic Data - U.S. Quickfacts
> Population Projections - U.S. Population Projections U.S. Census Bureau
> U.S. Stats - American FactFinder
> T-Shirt Market Data - T-Shirt Forums | Market Research
> Industry Data - ZapData
> T-Shirt Web Stats - Shirt.Woot.com Sales Statistics


Good sites.


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## doggonit

Thank you so much for sharing. I'll check them all out and I'm sure will gain a lot of insight.
best,
Marida


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## Fionn

GetDirT09 said:


> E-Commerce Stats - E-Stats U.S. Census Bureau
> Retail E-Commerce Stats - Quarterly Stats U.S.Census Bureau
> Demographic Data - U.S. Quickfacts
> Population Projections - U.S. Population Projections U.S. Census Bureau
> U.S. Stats - American FactFinder
> T-Shirt Market Data - T-Shirt Forums | Market Research
> Industry Data - ZapData
> T-Shirt Web Stats - Shirt.Woot.com Sales Statistics


Some great sites.
Does anyone know where I could find similar info on the British and European markets?


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## tres315

Sorry to resurrect this dead thread, but I'm also looking for (streetwear) market data resources for the european market. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

t


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