How to Generate Design Ideas for Your Activewear Line

Whether your products are flying off your digital shelves or you’re struggling to find your best-sellers, you likely have the same problem: Generating new design ideas. You need updated options & unique finds to keep your activewear line fresh & customers coming back for more. Here are a few ways to generate design ideas that sell in your ecommerce store.

Ask Your Audience & Leverage UGC

There may be no better place to find new design ideas for your activewear line than your current audience. Ask them directly what they want to see more of, or less of, through an email marketing campaign or your social media channels. You could also launch a campaign for User Generated Content (UGC) & bring your audience’s vision to life. Ask loyal & prospective customers to share their favorite designs, take a vote, & present them with fanfare in your online shop. A grand prize could be a lucrative gift card or free products from your store. 

Check Out Kickstarter

If you haven’t been on Kickstarter lately, you’re missing out on a goldmine of idea generation. Innovative entrepreneurs are coming to the platform every day with dynamic new ideas in an effort to raise funding. Although you can gather new ideas for your brand based on what people are selling, you can also partner with an emerging activewear designer to sell their products. 

Turning to Kickstarter is also an eye-opening way to see the response of eager activewear consumers. Is everyone vying for that new hoodie or fitness accessory & throwing money at the campaign? You may have found an opportunity to wholesale Kickstarters’ latest finds.  

Scour Your Analytics

There could be valuable clues for idea generation hiding in your online store’s analytics. See which products moved the fastest over the last few years & what lay stagnant. Make a list of everything your customers loved best & look for design & product commonalities. Were they all hoodies with a specific graphic? T-shirts? Leggings? Once you’ve identified how they may be similar, you can get to work on creating like-minded products with a fresh perspective. 

Spy On Your Favorite Active Lifestyle Influencers 

There’s an influencer for every market you can possibly think of, from fitness to active lifestyles. Broaden your search to micro-influencers with smaller but actively engaged audiences. Look at influencers who enjoy hiking, urban gardening, traveling to remote areas, & anything that touches on interest points for your audience & your business. Check out what these influencers want to wear, what they promote & talk about, & how their audience responds. If they’re your dream influencer, you could also discuss an influencer marketing campaign to introduce your new designs. 

Go Trend Hunting

Tapping into the latest trends is more than seeing what’s going on with Instagram. Start with Amazon & type in the type of product your online store usually sells the most. The Amazon Suggest feature will pop up & show you what other shoppers are looking for the most. Heading over to Google Trends & typing in your product also provides insights into the trend line & what’s happening in the marketplace. 

Don’t forget about Shopify. They regularly update their Trending Products list from toys to water bottles. If you don’t see your product or category on the updated list, it doesn’t mean you’re trending in the wrong direction. Instead, you could think about which of those categories & items sell best & how to incorporate those themes or ideas into your own store. For example, designed bottles & water bottles often trend on Shopify’s list. Those can easily be customized & incorporated into your online store to target your activewear lovers.

Ask an Ecommerce Mastermind Community 

Instead of struggling for the answers to the brainstorming problem yourself, turn to other online entrepreneurs. Look for ecommerce masterminds or MeetUps in your area with other online sellers. Find out how they discover, develop, & test their new designs to get reinspired. Although it’s best practice to avoid asking your direct competition how they get ideas, your non-direct competition is a valuable source of information. 

Think of Products That Complement Your Existing Line

Your activewear line can extend beyond clothes & the latest go-to fitness or active lifestyle accessories. What else is trending beyond the activewear industry? Think about pairing a journal or planner that helps fitness enthusiasts track & meet their goals. Bath salts, soaps, lotions, & sunscreens are also options to help your audience indulge in some hygienic self-care when they’re not living their active lifestyle. A line of candles that smells like the great outdoors shows your audience how deeply you think about their day-to-day lives & cater to their passions.

Join Social Media Communities

Dig deeper into your audience demographic by joining social media communities. Facebook Groups are ideal for honest audiences discussing their latest finds & products. Although most of these groups do not allow self-promotion for your brand, they do offer a place to talk about their interests, gripes about products, & what they wish they could find in the activewear industry.

How do you generate design ideas for your activewear line? Let us know by leaving a comment below!