EverythingBranded, today released its 2023 Merch Report, which explores the American consumer’s – as well as the American employee’s – relationship with branded merchandise (merch).

Consumers are after the merch memories

Conducted by third-party research firm, Censuswide, the report reveals memories are the primary motivator for American consumers to purchase merch – nearly half (45%) of consumers buy merch to remember a concert, event or place they’ve been.

These memory-hungry consumers would also go to great lengths to get their merch. Nearly a third of consumers (32%) say they’d purposefully plan to arrive at an event early just to make sure they get the item they want. Additionally, nearly 20 percent (16%) would buy seats at a concert or an event that are close to the merch booth for easy access, preorder it when they purchased their event ticket (23%) or sign up for an email list for early access (22%).