Explore Niche: Hats
10 handpicked products

Google Trends: Hats are becoming a trend in 2022, and not because we have a bad hair day, but simply because they are a fashion piece. In 2022 most demanded and worn hats for women are Baseball caps, baker’s boy hats, bucket hats, faux fur bucket hats, beanies, and hair-kerchief. Men follow fashion trends too, so the most wanted and worn men’s hats in 2022 are Boater,  fuz, Amish hat, top hat, Bowler or Derby, Fedora, etc.

Timing: Nowadays, the hat is a piece of fashion that is worn at every kind of event, such as formal events, sports events, parties, etc. In 2022, headwear trends are becoming more extensive via social media, influencers, and popular magazines and blogs.

Influencers: @nanphanitajacob, @maryamkeyhani, @sarahsokolmillinery, @aminahood, @behidadolic, @chachashouse, @heirloomhats, @christopherjayheller, @byvladainsta

Interesting statistics: Fastest growing hats market worldwide is North America, with an estimated CAGR of 6.53% for the period between 2022-2027. Various small and local businesses have introduced new and innovative products, such as customized hats, especially caps. Their target audiences are millennials and the young generation, of the fact that their style and fashion sense have changed a lot in past years.

When coming to fashion, 2022 is the year for maximalism.

The versatile and stylish hats have become an essential part of every man’s wardrobe. Nowadays customers are looking for a simple yet elegant hat to complete their outfit or some of them are looking for something more practical, thus hats are a great addition to any look. Customers are also demanding hats that are ideal for keeping them or their kids warm and protecting them from the sun.

When taking into consideration customers’ requirements about headwear products, quality is the key. The most demanded materials for hats this year are polyester, wool, and cotton.

The most sold items for men in 2022 are Fedora. These hat styles are the most polarising men’s accessories. Fedora hats are available in a variety of sizes and colors, but most wanted these seasons are neutral tones and medium widths, so when selling online, neutral tones are your safe choice. Tribly hat style is also in high demand this spring. Customers are buying terribly because of its fancy style look and materials like tweed and straw. Another product that was mostly sold in the summer of 2021 is the Panama hat, and its sales are expected to grow. Other mostly sold and demanded styles for men are Bowler, Snapback, Dad hats, etc.

Women mostly are demanding stylish hats like Shearling baseball hats, Baker’s boy hats, Bucket hats, etc. Bucket hats are trendier than ever. The most desired material is faux fur and polyester. Most sold items for the spring and summer season this year 2022 are bucket hats, like, Le Bob Artichaut Frayed Cotton-Blend Bucket Hat, One Love Bucket Hat, Reversible Checked Cotton Bucket Hat, etc.

Following the data about the headwear industry, it is concluded that influencer marketing in the fashion industry has a great impact on customers’ decision-making process. Most of the leading companies over the world use this type of marketing to promote their headwear products, such as Nike, Puma, and many more. So, if you want to boost your sales online, you should consider this type of marketing.

If you are selling online your most likely competitors will be businesses that sell headwear products online, with good quality, affordable prices, and established brand awareness. According to these characteristics, some of the listed competitor businesses might be Hats.com, Village Hat Shop, Hats Unlimited, Simons, New Era Cap, Tilley,  Amazon, Aliexpress, etc.

Important competitors that you need to take into consideration also are hosts of online stores.

Other groups of competitors are headwear industry leaders, like Nike, Lids, FootLocker, etc. 

The best way to target your primary competitors is by firstly setting your product prices, then the customer segment that will be your target audience. 

We recommend you to check out  Dropshipping.com for products in the headwear niche, which offers a great choice. Also, you can search for images on Pinterest, Unsplash, Pexels, Canva, etc.

Influencers: @nanphanitajacob, @maryamkeyhani, @sarahsokolmillinery, @aminahood, @behidadolic, @chachashouse, @heirloomhats, @christopherjayheller, @byvladainsta

Blogs: Tenth street hats, Fashionable hats, The Budget Babe, Hats Unlimited Blog, Hats.com blog, etc.

Communities: Black Hat, Cap Lover, New Era Fitted Hats

Subreddits: r/ hats, r/caps, r/ malefashionadvice, r/ neweracaps

The target audience market segments for the headwear industry can be divided in various ways, taking into consideration many factors. For example, there are many reasons why customers buy hats, like, to keep their heads warm, to protect themselves from warmth, as a fashion statement, or for work. For different reasons, we can have different market segments.

Baseball caps are demanded and worn by athletes and fans of those sports. Cowboy hats are demanded by people who want to have a specific fashion style or people that live in rural areas. Hats like fedoras and beanies can be worn by anyone.

So, examining this fact we can conclude that one customer can be placed into multiple market segments.

Analyzing the market segments by customers’ age and gender we can conclude that 64% of the buyers are women, and the other 36% are men. Women between the ages of 35-44 demand headwear products the most, while men that mostly require hats are between 25-34 years old. The smallest group of customers are women and men above 65 years old. 

Parents are another important market segment when analyzing the target audience. They buy a variety of hats in different materials for different seasons for their kids, whether to keep them warm or to protect them from the sun and high UV in Summer.

The keyword hats search volume is also high, up to 368,000 searches per month. The average cost per click is $0.81. Hats club is the most searchable keyword in this category with up to 165,000 searches per month, furthermore, related keywords with good search volume are hats for men, Hats men, hats women, hats new era, etc.

Bucket hat keyword average search is 301,000 per month, which is high. The average cost per click is $0.95. The most searchable keywords connected to the keyword bucket hats for men also bucket hats for women.

Fedora keyword search volume is pretty high too, which is 135,000. The average cost per click is $0.45. Other searchable keywords related to fedora are fedora hat, fedora for men, and fedora hats for women. 

Dad hats keyword search volume is 49,500. The average cost per click is $0.96. Other searchable keywords related to dad hats are dad hats for men, dad hats for men, dad hats black, and dad hats custom.

The Headwear market size in 2019 was estimated at $7.446 billion. By the end of 2025 it is expected to grow to $9.531 billion, with a CAGR of 4.2% during 2020-2025, and a CAGR of 6.53% by 2028.

Headwear market leader companies are Adidas AG, Nike Inc, New Era Cap, Under Armour Inc., Pipolaki, SuperGroup PLC, Boardriders Inc., New Balance Inc., etc.

According to market coverage, North America is the leader. Here the headwear market is mostly allocated in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Right after North America is Latin America ( Brazil, Argentina), Europe (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain), Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Australia & New Zealand, South Korea, ASEAN), etc.

Another interesting fact is that online retail stores mark higher sales than offline retail stores. This trend is following since 2018 and the predictions are that it will continue to grow even double much till 2028.

Mostly sold products from the headwear industry in 2022 are Caps and Hats, right after they are Beanies, and then Headbands. This trend follows since 2020, because of the changes in customers’ needs and wants. Best-selling caps and hats products this year are Shearling baseball cap, Baker’s boy hat, Bucket Hat, Faux fur hat, Wide- brim hat, trapper hat, etc.

The most sold item in 2022 is caps and hats. This year more than 43 million baseball caps are sold in the USA. This brought the industry revenue of more than $2 billion.

Hats market size is up from $2.5 billion, costs vary from 1.80 to 13 dollars. Average sale prices of this type of product are between $5-55 USD. Profit margins reach levels of 70%.  Market saturation is competitive and the purchase cycle is characterized by repetitive buyers.

Caps market analysis also has interesting statistics. Following the market, costs vary from $1 to 15 dollars. Average sale prices of this type of product are between $12-55 USD. Profit margins reach levels of 91%.  Market saturation is competitive and the purchase cycle is characterized by repetitive buyers.

What customers mostly take into consideration about headwear products is product quality and material. Thus, these characteristics are important for you as a seller.

Shipping costs may vary depending on the weight of the product. Thus, as the weight of the hats varies, so will the cost of shipping the products. Also, another case when shipping costs vary is because of the size of the product. Larger product shipping costs might be higher. We also recommend you review the rules for COVID in international transfers.

There is a large supplier base available to pick from, such as Dropshipping.com, Aliexpress, or Amazon, make sure they have the supply and the product quality that you require.