October Trends
In October, seasonal themes shifts and people look for practical items like branded journals or insulated drinkware like thermoses. In apparel flannel shirts fit the fall theme along with aprons blankets and jackets. Pumpkin spice is still a hot seller so for those who connect with clients using eatable branding, you can spice up your marketing.
It is small business month in Canada. Giveaways are great icebreakers for networking along with printed presentation materials that make you stand out from competitors.
Eco friendly bags are a best seller and appreciated for sustainability. Recycled tote bags are great for store use (or sale) plus people appreciate them when given as loyalty gifts. Drinkware has also continued to expand into the sustainable category providing organizations lots of affordable options that they can put their logo on. Seed paper is a growth category as people make the shift to print on paper that they can plant to get flowers or herbs instead of just sending paper to the trash. This goes well with a “grow with us theme” when printing business cards, post cards, calendars, and even packing for shipping.
Clients often start thinking about end of the year gifts for clients and staff like tech & wellness gadgets and seasonal apparel.
Branded hand sanitizer is an economical giveaway to prepare for flu season. A basket of these freebies could be good to have as people enter your store before they touch everything and shake hands with your staff.
Last October the product leaders in according to Sage were:
- Bags
- Shirts
- Pens
- Mugs
- Tumblers
- Caps
- Coats
- Awards
- Blankets
- Bottles
The biggest movers in terms of demand as we move into the 4th quarter are expected to be ornaments, beanies, sweaters, scrapers, gloves, hoodies, coats, candles, blankets, and calendars.
Year-over-year, fireplaces, cables and massagers dominated the top increases in demand.
PRINTING REMINDER > Have you ordered your 2026 calendar yet?
October is a good time to take note on your shipping and packaging inventory to be sure you have good supply for the coming months.
Halloween is a decorative month. You can add some flare by switching up store tags having fun labels/decals, floor graphics, tent cards and banners. Custom Window clings are something you can reuse or move around.
Will you be sending out holiday cards? Updating mailing lists is a typically a task that can require some attention prior to direct mail campaigns. In October, you should be close to a final draft so you can pull the trigger on print and distribution in November.
Winter is coming, using custom branded scraper floor mats at your entrance can save your floors while adding brand visibility. Nonslip mats throughout the store can be printed to showcase product or help navigate towards certain products or services.
Lastly, October is fire prevention month. This is a great opportunity to do a deep dive walk through of the inside and outside of your workspaces. In addition to noting fire risks replace signage in areas where customers and staff could be a task that you won’t regret when it promotes injury prevention. Are safety signs up to date, do you need tags or items, warning labels are visible, health/wellness posters are relevant?
In October,
- Happy Thanksgiving,
- Have a successful Small Business Week
- Be wise for Fire Prevention Week
- Celebrate Halloween
- For more promotional days in October, see you October AMP Calendar (insert hyperlink)
I’d be happy to help you develop ideas and find the swag, printing, apparel and media solution that go along with these trends. (((((AMPLIFY))))) can procure 1.3 million AMP Tools. Contact me at 705-626-TIM-1 or tim@ampbroker.ca
