Meme merch: Can Internet jokes translate into Amazon sales?

Memes have taken over the internet by storm, and it seems like there’s no stopping them. From viral videos to hilarious images, they have become a part of our daily lives.

But have you ever wondered if they have a place in the world of print-on-demand merch?

In this blog post, we explore whether memes are a popular niche on Amazon Merch on Demand. We’ll assess their popularity and discuss how to approach them.

So grab your favorite meme-inspired coffee mug and let’s dive right into it.

Are meme designs popular on Amazon Merch on Demand?

Before we can unfold the full potential of this topic, we must first answer a fundamental question. Are memes even a thing on Amazon Merch on Demand? Do shoppers search for such items or do they belong solely on social media?

A few clicks on Merch Informer gave us the answers we needed. According to the Keyword Research tool, meme designs generate interest.

Here are some of the hottest phrases that buyers search for. Next to each keyword, you can see its monthly search volume and competition level.

• meme t shirt – 30,274 – high
• meme shirts – 28,331 – high
• meme hoodie men – 8,821 – high
• meme popsocket – 8,218 – high

Right off the bat, we can see that there is a significant demand for meme-inspired merch. At the same time, the words above are incredibly competitive. As a new entrant, it will be much more difficult for you to position your listings higher in search results. Unless you adopt a creative strategy and take advantage of sub-niches.

This is what we’re here to help with.

The wave-creating memes you should know about

The world of memes is extremely wide and diverse. To choose specific genres that can yield results, you’ll need two things. First, it’s vital to be up to date with the meme trends across social media. Second, you’ll need accurate and precise insights into how listings are performing on Amazon.

For instance, some of the top memes from last year include:

• “Jamal Did It” – a TikTok trend that was initially created as a parody of racism
• “Emotional Damage” – memes of a YouTuber saying “emotional damage” as a reaction to life events
• Oscar-related memes – images and videos of popular celebrities and their behavior at the Oscars
• Putin memes – a reflection of the Russia-Ukraine war
• Karen meme – refers to a middle-aged, entitled and aggressive white female who frequently makes unreasonable demands

And others.

We performed research on Merch Informer using keywords related to these memes. The tool revealed that there aren’t enough listings or sales to say that these genres are popular. However, there are particular subjects, like the Karen meme, that appear to have potential. There are a number of merch designs related to this topic, with BSRs as low as 451,737.

This finding indicates that although there could be an opportunity to turn memes into a profitable merch design, not all themes sell. Put otherwise, selecting the right segment becomes even more crucial.

Due to the complexity of the meme space, we decided to approach our research backwards. Rather than researching all memes individually, we let Merch Informer do all the hard work for us. Using the Keyword Research tool, we were able to detect some of the most popular meme designs on Amazon.

Let’s go into more detail.

The meme landscape on Amazon Merch on Demand

As noted above, there’s no question that meme merch is a hot zone on Amazon. Shoppers are searching for such items, giving sellers a demand to satisfy. At the same time, the average BSR of bestsellers ranking for the world “meme” in the t-shirt space is 401,601. This is much lower than other themes, making the market lucrative to explore.

But what are the specific memes that people want to see on their merch designs?

Overall, the below findings suggest that the attention-grabbing meme categories include:

• Animal memes (specifically cats)
• Celebrity memes (actors, singers, politicians)
• Political memes
• Lifestyle memes
• Movie memes

Let’s dig further.

An overview of specific funny merch designs that shoppers search for

To understand the meme market on Amazon Merch on Direct, it’s critical to find out what users are interested in.

The following phrases generate the most attention in the meme segment:

• atf meme shirt – 8 221 – high
• npc meme – 8 022 – low
• bonk dog meme – 7 896 – low
• stonks meme – 6 658 – low
• popcat meme – 6 551 – low
• cat meme sweater – 5 603 – high
• meme lord tshirt – 5 599 – high
• meme daddy shirt – 5 595 – high
• math meme shirts – 5 496 – high
• gym meme shirt – 5 058 – high
• giga chad meme – 5 051 – low
• bruh meme – 4 966 – low
• beluga cat meme – 3 583 – low

It becomes apparent that consumers are browsing for a diverse range of meme topics. For you, this means that there are plenty of sub-niches to tap into for booming sales and growth on the platform.

But as you can see, some of these markets are harder to rank for than others. They also carry their individual characteristics, like profitability, design best practices, prices and more.

So let’s find out what the top choices are in terms of average BSR, profitability and competition.

Meme niches that generate sales

We discovered that the following five options generate the lowest average BSRs among the bestsellers in the t-shirt category. In other words, these are the five meme themes that are sold best on Amazon Merch on Demand:

• gym meme shirt – 4 649
• bruh meme – 6 867
• dog meme – 37 778
• cat meme – 41 061
• giga chad meme – 151 148

Next to each phrase, you can see the average BSR for all top-performing listings that rank for it.

Interestingly, these meme genres were also the ones that have the most saturated markets. When using Merch Hunter to analyze the top-selling t-shirts, we noticed that more than 100 listings appear in the search results. On the other hand, only around 10-20 results show up when searching for “stonks meme” or “npc meme”.

The only exception is “giga chad meme”, which also consists of only 12 listings.

For some sellers, a greater listing count could be a sign of a well-developed market. But others may see an opportunity in segments where there aren’t many listings ranking for related keywords. Usually, such sub-niches are not as competitive.

This becomes clear when we check our theory with the competition level of keywords. For example, “giga chad meme” has low competition (where only 12 listings appear in Merch Hunter), while “gym meme shirt” is highly competitive (where more than 100 bestselling listings appear).

As a new entrant in a niche, we recommend going for genres that are easier to rank in. This will help you see quicker results and scale your listings in the space faster.

How profitable are meme-based designs on Amazon Merch on Demand?

When determining the profitability of a market, it’s key to observe the lowest, highest and average prices in the market. Overall, in the meme niche, these are:

• $13.38
• $23.50
• $18.66

Remember – your listing’s price will determine your royalties per sale. There are a myriad of different pricing strategies you can take. However, it’s advisable to ask for something close to the average in the space.

When niching down, keep in mind that each sub-category has its own individual market prices. For example, the top five meme topics from above have the following average prices:

• gym meme shirt – $19.40
• bruh meme – $18.27
• dog meme – $19.00
• cat meme – $19.49
• giga chad meme – $20.14

Clearly, you can earn the highest royalties per sale in the giga chad meme category. Previously, we also unveiled that this field is low in competition, making it increasingly attractive from a seller’s perspective.

Popular words to optimize your meme listings for

Let’s say you decide that you’d like to create meme merch designs that outperform your competitors. The best way to do this is to optimize your listings for attractive keywords. This will help you make your merch easily discoverable, attracting traffic and sales.

While main keywords, like “meme t-shirt” or “cat meme” are vital, don’t limit yourself to them. Instead, enhance your title with other popular words or phrases from the niche. For example, for “gym meme”, some of the top choices include “fitness”, “weightlifting”, “fun”, “funny” and “pull”.

For “cat meme” the top-used words feature “woman”, “birthday”, “funny” and “kitty”.

Pinpoint these words for the sub-niche you’re interested in by using Merch Informer’s Merch Hunter tool.

A sneak peek into the bestsellers

The final piece of our niche research aims to uncover what the top performers in the space are doing differently from others.

We identified that:

• Chart-topping listings strategically merge niches together to create a specific and targeted product.
• Best-selling titles are fully optimized for relevant, juicy keywords with a lot of search volume.
• The majority of the number one listings in the meme segment price their designs around the market average.
• All designs are eye-grabbing, funny and relevant to the particular meme.

Let’s look at a real-life example.

The “Meowdy – Funny Mashup Between Meow and Howdy – Cat Meme T-Shirt” listing ranks first in terms of sales in the cat meme niche. It’s also the best-selling merch item for the word “meme” in the t-shirt category.

The listing has a BSR of 39 518, which translates into 54 monthly sales. It sells for $19.98 – a price tag very close to the market average of $19.49.

Some of the immediate attention-grabbers from the title include “funny”, “meow”, “cat meme”, “cat meme t-shirt”, and “howdy”. All of these words are essential for attracting traffic to the listing. They are relevant to the cat meme sub-niche and perfectly outline the merch design concept.

The t-shirt design is very simplistic. It features a cat face with a cowboy hat. Below the image, there’s an easy-to-read “MEOWDY” text (a playful combination of “meow” and “howdy”.

Based on previous research into Amazon Merch on Demand designs, combinations of text and imagery perform best. By incorporating these best practices into your strategy, you can make your merch stand out and skyrocket your sales.

Wrapping it all up

As a final conclusion, we can say that memes are a lucrative option to explore if you want to diversify your portfolio and enter a new niche.

We recommend tapping into low-competition niches like giga chad that have a decent search volume. We also advise creating a design that successfully merges several segments into one, if possible. Don’t forget to optimize your listing titles and descriptions with attractive keywords and to price your product appropriately based on the market.

Lastly, take advantage of Merch Informer – your go-to business intelligence tool for informed decision-making on Amazon Merch on Demand.