Introduction
While trend reports tell you what consumers may want next, our Marketplace data tells you what retailers are already stocking on their shelves.
To understand what is gaining traction this summer, we analysed ordering activity on Orderchamp over the past 90 days. Rather than looking only at total order value, we focused on a more useful signal: how widely demand is spread across different retailers.
For example, a product that is ordered repeatedly by one store may be a strong fit for that business, but a product ordered by many independent retailers suggests something broader: it may be working across different locations, customer groups and store concepts. That distinction matters for you when deciding whether to follow a trend, test a category or reorder a proven product.
Whether you already source through Orderchamp or are simply looking for new retail inspiration, these patterns can help you decide where to experiment, what to reorder and how to build a focused seasonal selection.
1. Bold design drinkware is in
Insulated drinkware continues to attract broad retailer interest, but the strongest products are not succeeding on practicality alone.
The products currently standing out combine a useful format, like a built-in straw or handle with:
- A recognisable illustration
- A distinctive colour
- A larger-capacity format
- A clear gifting message
- An established design identity
The following products are among the most widely ordered in the category over the past 90 days:
Each of the top two products reached a different retailer for every order placed — a strong sign of broad, distributed demand rather than a single store driving the numbers.
The category is not being driven by one dominant aesthetic. Instead, several buying triggers appear to be working at the same time.
The teacher cup shows the potential of occasion-led gifting. The larger IZY bottle points to demand for high-capacity formats suited to work, travel and everyday routines. Illustrated products offer something visually distinctive for retailers that want drinkware to contribute to the overall look of a display.
Across all IZY Bottles listings, 900ML formats are attracting slightly more retailers per listing on average than 500ML formats. In total volume, 500ML leads, but on a per-listing basis, the larger format is holding its own. Retailers willing to test a higher-capacity option are not taking an outsized risk.
900ML listings attract slightly more retailers per listing on average despite a smaller catalogue. This supports the large-format trend signal.
The takeaway is not simply that bottles are selling, it is that generic drinkware has a harder job earning attention.
What retailers can do with this insight
Build your drinkware assortment around a clear buying reason rather than filling a shelf with similar options.
For example:
- One practical everyday bottle
- One larger statement format
- One illustrated or colour-led design
- One occasion-based gifting option
This creates variety without making the category feel disconnected.
Drinkware is also one of the easier summer categories to carry into autumn. Bottles and travel cups remain relevant for commuting, school, work and gifting long after the holiday period ends.
2. A proven format in several designs can outperform a broad range
Children's swim essentials reveal a different pattern.
HappyBear Diapers is currently one of the strongest names in the category, with several illustrated versions of the same core swim-diaper format attracting retailer interest.
Rather than spreading retailer attention across many different product types, HappyBear offers one easy-to-understand product in several prints. Retailers can create visual variety without having to learn, explain or merchandise a completely different item each time.
Demand is genuinely broad. The spread across prints confirms that retailers are building small collections rather than relying on one bestseller to carry the category.
Reorder behaviour is also visible in the data. Of the retailers who placed an order in the last 90 days, the majority had ordered the same print before. For the Pacific print, every retailer who ordered in the last 90 days had already purchased it previously. Retailers are not only testing the product — they are returning to it after initial sales. That is a different signal from early adoption: it suggests the product is proving itself on the shop floor.
This is a useful lesson beyond children's swimwear.
In many categories, depth can be more effective than breadth. One trusted product offered in several colours, prints or sizes may be easier to buy and easier for customers to understand than a wide mix of unrelated products.
What retailers can do with this insight
When testing a new category, consider choosing one strong format and building a small family around it.
For swim diapers, that could mean:
- One playful animal print
- One softer botanical design
- One gender-neutral option
- One version aimed at younger children
This gives customers enough choice while keeping the display clear.
The category can also remain relevant beyond peak summer. Indoor swimming, baby swimming classes and autumn holidays help extend the selling window.
3. Sun care works best as a small routine, not a large department
The sun-care products attracting retailer interest suggest that stores do not need a large specialist range to participate in the category.
Four products currently stand out:
Together, they cover three different customer needs: protection, recovery and glow. That creates a simple retail story.
Each of the four products reached a similar level of retailer demand in the last 90 days, and three of them had received no orders at all in the 90 days before that.
The category is not simply active — it is accelerating. Three of these four products went from zero retailer orders to meaningful demand within a single season. For a category that can feel like a specialist niche, that is a notable shift.
Basket-level data supports the routine-buying argument. Of the retailers who ordered the PROPOS'NATURE After-Sun Gel in the last 90 days, two out of three also ordered a sunscreen in the same period. Retailers are not picking up individual products in isolation — they are building a short, connected edit from the start.
The stronger insight here is not that every retailer should build a large sun-care assortment. It is that beauty, lifestyle and concept stores can test the category through a compact edit that fits naturally alongside existing skincare.
What retailers can do with this insight
Start with a three-part structure:
- One everyday sunscreen
- One after-sun or hydrating product
- One self-tanning or glow product
This creates a complete story without requiring a large number of SKUs.
It also helps the category transition beyond summer. Protection may be seasonal, but hydration, recovery and self-tanning can remain relevant throughout the year.
4. Margin potential does not automatically equal demand
Adult summer fashion tells a more cautious story.
We reviewed women's and men's swimwear, shorts and tank tops. While individual products may offer attractive commercial potential, the current data shows significantly less broad retailer adoption than in drinkware or children's swim essentials.
This distinction is important.
A product can have a strong margin, appealing design and good brand story without yet showing evidence of broad market demand. Profitability only matters when the product sells.
Fashion also depends more heavily on store-specific factors:
- Customer age and style
- Fit and sizing
- Local climate
- Existing category credibility
- The retailer's own sales history
That makes marketplace-wide popularity less useful as a standalone buying signal.
What retailers can do with this insight
Use your own sell-through data as the primary guide.
If summer clothing already performs well in your store, the category may still deserve investment. If it is new territory, take a more selective approach:
- Reorder silhouettes that already work
- Test small capsules rather than broad collections
- Prioritise transitional pieces
- Choose colours that connect with your autumn assortment
- Avoid treating margin potential as proof of customer demand
Summer fashion is not necessarily a weak opportunity. It is simply a category where store fit matters more than general trend enthusiasm.
5. The strongest products combine a clear function with a clear reason to choose them
Across all four categories, one pattern appears repeatedly.
The products attracting broader retailer attention tend to solve a practical need while offering something more distinctive.
A bottle keeps drinks cold, but its colour, illustration or capacity helps it stand out. A swim diaper serves a clear function, but the print gives parents a reason to choose one version over another. A sunscreen offers protection, while natural positioning, packaging or formulation helps it fit into a particular store and customer routine.
Function gets a product considered. Identity helps it get chosen.
Within the drinkware category, the data makes this visible. Illustrated designs — the Heinen Delfts Blauw Forest Birds bottle, the IZY Fico Rosa — each reached more unique retailers in the last 90 days. Plain solid-colour equivalents in the same format and price range reached noticeably less retailers. The difference is not the product type: it is the degree to which the design gives a retailer something to say about it.
A second pattern is that several strong products are built around depth rather than breadth.
HappyBear repeats one product format across multiple prints. IZY Bottles uses recognisable shapes in different colours and sizes. Sun care can be built into a short, connected routine.
This gives retailers enough variety without creating an assortment that is difficult to explain or merchandise.
A third pattern is the importance of a selling window that extends beyond the immediate season.
The strongest opportunities are not necessarily the products most closely tied to hot weather. They are the products that can move naturally into the next retail moment:
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Drinkware into back-to-school and commuting
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Swim diapers into indoor swimming
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Self-tanning into year-round beauty
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Lightweight fashion into transitional dressing
How to apply the data to your next order
Marketplace data is most useful when it changes how you make a decision.
Before adding a product to your assortment, ask:
- Is demand spread across several retailers or concentrated in one store?
- Does the product have a clear reason to be chosen over similar alternatives?
- Can it be displayed as part of a connected story?
- Does it fit the customer I already serve?
- Can I continue selling it after the current seasonal moment?
The findings suggest three practical approaches for the coming months.
1. Follow broad demand where the category is transferable
Drinkware is attracting interest across different styles and use cases, while remaining relevant beyond summer.
2. Test new categories through focused edits
Swim essentials and sun care do not require a large initial range. One proven format or one short routine can be enough to measure customer response.
3. Trust your own sales history where store fit matters most
Fashion is less transferable across retailers. Use marketplace activity as context, but let your own customer data lead the decision.
The most useful trends are not always the loudest. Often, they are practical products quietly being adopted by different retailers because they are easy to understand, visually distinctive and relevant for longer than a single season.
Explore new products and brands across Orderchamp and build an assortment that works for your store.