What’s Trending:  The craft supply industry buttoned up ~$647B last year and is on track to nearly double by 2026.

Tactile crafts have had a glittering year. Subscribers to r/Embroidery and r/Leathercraft have doubled over the last ~12 months. The woodworking community of Reddit is now 3.5m+ strong. 

US Amazon searches for “crafts for adults” are up 83% over the last 90 days, per Jungle Scout. Pinterest is awash with more craft-based interest across Europe, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

The Cause: Being stuck at home zapped our creative juices, and while some lockdown hobbies came and went others — like crafting — have continued to boom.

The global handicrafts market was worth ~$647B in 2020, and is forecast to grow to ~$1.2T by 2026 (an ~11% CAGR).

 

1) Entry-Level Handicrafts: Simple crafts are in high demand. Examples of US Amazon search volumes:

Excludes Valentine’s and Easter related crafting searches, which are currently exploding. Source: Jungle Scout, January 2022

The market for basic crafting materials is enormous. These 1-inch wooden craft balls generate $1.4m+/mo. on Amazon, and a single brand of acrylic yarn does $730k+/mo., per Jungle Scout.

Entrepreneurs could sell materials D2C, or focus on simple kits; this bracelet-making one brings in $350k+/mo. Why not combine trends? Entry-level crafting ties in with opportunities in sensory art for children.

 

2) Get Online: The crafting market, which is traditionally brick-and-mortar heavy, is moving online — US ecommerce sales of hobby and crafting supplies hit a record $15B+ in 2021.

Similar to the opportunities uncovered for DIY’s pivot to ecommerce, entrepreneurs could create one-stop online shops for the growing body of crafters. 

Niching down (with focus on specific SEO) is a strong opportunity. Similarweb shows this antiquated embroidery supplies site gets ~70k visits/mo., and ~70% of traffic is organic. Imagine the attention a modern, well-branded version would attract. 

Crafting is hugely popular on social media, which means you can leverage the trend to advertise your platform or brand (TikTok’s #crafting has 1.8B views).

 

3) Advanced Crafts: Skills like leatherwork, woodwork, and sewing are in vogue.

Source: Subreddit Stats

One seller of embroidery kits has racked up 55k+ sales on Etsy; a rough median price of $12 puts revenue at ~$660k+. 

Other examples of US Amazon 30-day search volumes, via Jungle Scout:

• “Crochet kit” — 37k
• “Jewelry making kit” — 27k
• “Woodcarving kit” — 12k
• “Leather working kit” — 3k

At-home candle-making is also heating up. These soy wax beads generate $1.3m+/mo. on Amazon, and there are 140k monthly searches for “candle making kit.” Options like this one bring in $500k+/mo. (kits for status candles are a solid opportunity).

For all these advanced crafts, entrepreneurs could focus on guides and content: Subreddits are full of “how to” questions (some examples from r/weaving).

You could start a newsletter, blog, or podcast. Don’t underestimate the power of community in these small crafting niches: Spin Off, a publication dedicated to spinners of yarn, has newsletter subscription packages for $35-$180/year and ~90k site visits/mo., per Similarweb.

The “finish it yourself” trend could be big for more challenging crafts. Deliver kits with the basics already done, allowing less experienced consumers to easily partake.

 

4) Experiences: Events like wine and craft nights are starting to make an impressive resurgence. Searches for “paint night near me” are on the rise again; Pinot’s Palette, with paint night tickets starting at $35, has ~300k site visits/mo. according to Similarweb.

Source: Google Trends

Entrepreneurs could branch out to a variety of group craft experiences, with or without the wine component (but in case you were wondering how versatile the craft + beverage space is, drunk knitting is already a thing on Reddit).

 

The Opportunity: Get a little crafty with your outreach and start building relationships with brands in this booming crafts category.

Prospect smAARt, pitch with purpose and most importantly, with passion!