Waves of demand rippled through the Buyer/Seller Marketplace in just the past couple weeks. In fact, event-driven demand for some products are flooding what is normally Post-Holiday January Sales Slumps. (Don’t tell the gloomy sales pundits just yet.)

Have a quick look at these products and product categories. You’ll see how trends and building demand are actually swamping some brand-name suppliers, who can’t keep up with the market now.

1. SPORTS & FITNESS

Athletic Apparel … the right Sport/Exercise Footwear … Exercise and Training Equipment … Books, DVDs and Games focused on weight-loss, exercise plans and fitness routines.

· Everyone expects January to be slow for retailers after frantic pre- and post-holiday sales calm down. The National Retail Federation has tracked predictable January slowdown for years. So why did mega-merchandiser Wal-Mart recently announce an immediate push on Sports and Fitness merchandise, promotions and early Spring Sales?

· Right Timing: It’s the right time for smart sellers to leverage all those “Get Healthy” New Year’s resolutions.

· 18% Growth: Digital marketplace trackers at comScore reported Sports & Fitness as the TOP product category for online sales this past holiday season … growing 18% (EIGHTEEN percent growth) over Holiday 2007 online sales.

· Consumer Price-Points: comScore ranked what it discovered about online spending habits (See Top Online Product Categories for Holiday Season 2008, in chart below). Trackers and analysts at comScore concluded that consumers finally feel comfortable about purchasing higher-priced items through online purchases. And that comfort level helped boost online sales of somewhat pricey fitness equipment, such as elliptical machines and treadmills.

To search for wholesale suppliers who sell direct to retailers in this product category, see TopTenWholesale’s listings of Sports Equipment Wholesalers and Athletic Shoes .

2. ELECTRONICS FOR ONE OR MORE

Video Games and Consoles … Electronics Accessories … Personal Electronics and Mobile Devices show demand growth online and are holding steady in brick and mortar store sales.

· According to SpendingPulse (a macro-economic indicator based on national retail sales activity through the MasterCard payments network), the overall category of Electronics/ Appliances declined 26%. Intel just announced production slowdowns in computer chip manufacturing due to a downturn in sales of computer hardware. And there are persistent rumors of overstock inventory in higher-priced electronics (plasma and flat-screen TVs, high price-point GPS systems) sitting on the shelves of big box electronics retailers.

· 2nd-Fastest Growing Product Category: ‘Course, none of the above statistics explain persistent and growing demand for Video Games, Consoles and Accessories. This segment of the general Electronics product category was ranked by comScore as “second fastest-growing” product group in recent online sales. Continuing demand for gaming consoles like Microsoft X-Box and PlayStation 3 pushed online sales up 14 percent.

· Personal Electronics Cross Buyer Segments: Another sales and demand boost to the personal electronics product category is cross-over marketing. For example, market demand is still strong for Nintendo Wii consoles … not only for gamers but for wannabe musicians and for exercise/fitness buffs, with Wii platforms and sensor gear.

Crossing promotion of Nintendo Wii exercise consoles with increasing demand for Exercise Equipment among Sports & Fitness consumers (See product category #1, above) is a smart buyer/seller double play.

· Ditto Cross-Selling for personal electronic gadgets such as CardioTrainer, a GPS-based application for the Android handheld device. CardioTrainer lets hikers, runners, cyclists and fitness daily walkers track their workouts and distance covered. It keeps training records for the user and syncs with a web-based application that displays workout sessions on a computer monitor, too.

Search for wholesale, distributor and resale Electronics product sources (including Returned and Liquidation Electronics) at TopTenWholesale’s Electronics Wholesalers search listings.

3. NEW CELEBRITY CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

J. Crewe Casuals for Women and Girls … Designer Copycat Evening Dresses … New Hot Colors … Non-Matching Shoes & Accessories

· The Buzz in fashionista blogs, magazines and star-stalker celebrity TV shows just went up 50 decibels in the past few weeks. The biggest amplifiers? (1) Entrance of a casual but style conscious First Family into the U.S. White House. (2) What was worn on the red carpets at several celebrity awards events, such as the Grammys, Independent Spirit Awards, Screen Actor’s Guild and Oscar ceremonies.

· Overnight Sell Outs: A trend snowballed from the sheath dresses with matching coats (worn by now First Lady Michelle Obama on the 2008 campaign trail) and bright colored – periwinkle, orange – fitted, ribboned coats (worn by First Kids Malia and Sasha Obama to Inauguration Day swearing in January 20). All were from J. Crewe Casuals Collections; some off-the-rack and some (the young girls’ colorful coats and knit mufflers) customized from J. Crewe designs.

Fashion Rumor is that J. Crewe retail outlets immediately sold out of every dress and coat in their stores within a day of the styles being worn by the Obama ladies.

· Romantic and Bejeweled Clothing: We called it here a month ago in Spring 2009 Apparel & Accessories Trends . Trend is for Romantic Styles in women’s dresses (casual and evening gowns), including halter or one-shoulder tops, toga wraps and sheer gauzy fabrics. Plus jewel-encrusted clothing.

No surprise, then, to hear fashion buzz over Michelle Obama’s Inaugural Ball Gown (a pale yellow, one-shouldered gown topped with sheer lace netting and hand-worked appliqués). Or that the First Lady’s modest yellow (it’s called mimosa) sheath dress and wrap coat from Cuban-born designer Isabel Toledo at the swearing-in ceremony showed – only in close ups – heavily embossed stitching and tiny Swarovski rhinestones worked quietly into the fabric.

Red carpets at televised film awards ceremonies and the many celebrity guest balls on Inauguration evening focused on: Romantic One-Shoulder or Low Strapless Evening Gowns; Bright Jewel-toned Blue-Purple-Garnet ball gowns; ornate filigree necklaces; and wide-shouldered, plunging neckline evening gowns in flowing, chiffon-like fabrics.

· Designer-Inspired and Designer Copycat Apparel: Smart apparel buyers and sellers will have no trouble finding affordable designer duplicates, at all price points, to feed market demands for women’s and girl’s clothing that matches celebrity trends listed above.

Within hours, Fabiano designers readied a knockoff of L.A. designer Jason Wu’s one-shouldered inaugural ball gown for Michelle Obama for “about $400.” Fabiano also designed a replica of the Isabel Toledo-designed lemongrass bejeweled sheath dress and coat worn by First Lady Obama at the swearing-in for a mere “$398” per outfit. Even lower-priced apparel that picks up these basic, instantly super trendy styles are now in the making.

Some TV fashionistas are advising young fashionable teens and tweens on how to customize off-the-rack coats with streaming ribbons and ribbon belts … to dupe Malia’s and Sasha’s customized J. Crewe coats.

· Color & Style Trends By the Book … Or Not: Many of the above celebrity style trends were recorded in Mandi Norwood’s “Michelle Obama Style Guide.” Color Trends Tips (1) White is the New Black, especially for Men’s Dress Wear; (2) Variations on the Yellow Color Palette (yellow equals “hopeful”) including lemongrass, pale yellow, mimosa; (3) Not Going Too Matchy-Matchy with accessories … pairing the lemongrass dress/coat set with different shades of green for shoes and gloves.

4. Top Selling Online Product Categories

Buyer and Sellers can find growing product categories to source and sell by looking at sales data that separate store (offline) sales from better performing online sales.

· Consumer electronics store Best Buy reported a 34% increase in online sales for December 2008 (an increase over online sales for year-end 2007). However, comparing in-store sales for 2007 and 2008 showed a 6.8% decline.

· Wal-Mart Stores also reported increased online sales this past holiday season, led by sales of entertainment and home products.

For an online holiday shopping season that recorded a disappointing 3-percent decline in sales, a positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallet. –comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni

Top Online Product Categories for 2008 Holiday Season
Source: comScore

Top Online Product Sales Holiday 2008