At the 2023 Outdoor Retailer conference we highlighted Stanley, a brand in the Sports & Outdoor department that has been climbing at a tremendous rate. Stanley is taking the tumbler industry by storm, with influencers raving about their products on TikTok (#StanleyTumbler). Based on Stackline's exclusive data, the company has separated itself from its competition, resulting in unprecedented growth within the Insulated Mugs & Tumblers subcategory.

Retail sales across the entire Insulated Mugs & Tumblers subcategory have seen a staggering increase +926% lift year over year.

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As the catalyst for a shift in consumer dynamics in the Insulated Mugs & Tumblers subcategory, Stanley has seen massive year over year market share growth. What’s more impressive, they are the driving force in lifting up the entire Mugs & Tumblers subcategory - outpacing the market by a staggering twenty times the average growth rate. In just 52 weeks, Stanley’s market share went from a mere 2.13% to an eyepopping 15.89% - nipping at the heels of subcategory leader, Yeti at 16%. Their significant gains are displacing smaller brands like Tervis and Contigo, turning the market into a two-horse race.

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Let's dive into traffic, an essential component to surfacing category dynamics. Overall searches for Beverage and Travel Containers category are up 51% YTD in the category. This points to shifting consumer interests which are driving growth as well as investments in retail media advertising.

Drilling into Share of Traffic, Stanley products are the top-clicked in the subcategory. This shift has positioned Stanley as the clear favorite to overtake all competitors, including subcategory leader, Yeti.

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As traffic share is a leading indicator of market share growth or erosion, it's important to pinpoint the period when this shift occurred. Looking at the time series of Total Traffic Share, we can see the inflection during the 2022 holiday shopping season. Since that period, Stanley remains in an elevated position versus Yeti.

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Determining the sustainability of Stanley's growth is an exercise in decoding consumer behavior. Because of the growth of retail media and the use of unsustainable pricing schemes, many brands become 'flash-in-the-pan' with spikes in sales growth that is not replicable. With brands only retaining 12% of their customers, brands with strong awareness and affinity are more likely to have long-term success.

When examining the health of a subcategory, Stackline recommends using Branded Search metrics as a proxy for brand awareness. In looking at Share of Voice by Branded Search, Stanley's rise is meteoric.

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Shoppers have become hyper-focused on Stanley.  Another outcome of winning branded search?  89% of conversions for Stanley have come from branded search. Stanley's viral approach to driving awareness is clearly paying dividends. The question is how will previous incumbents respond? Interested in accessing the data? Sign up for a free demo here.  

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About Stackline

Leading financial services firms leverage Stackline’s proprietary data to source potential branded investments, conduct due diligence on potential acquisitions, as well as monitor and optimize consumer brand performance. Stackline provides comprehensive ecommerce retail intelligence across 20+ online marketplaces globally, including Amazon, Walmart, Target and Chewy. Our coverage is fully exhaustive as we track 500mm+ SKUs across 300k+ brands, with the industry’s highest data accuracy rates. Stackline provides insight into KPIs, including sales, pricing, units, traffic/conversion metrics, and much more. This enables our clients with a holistic view of real-time performance, across targeted consumer brands & product categories.    

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