Now in it's fourth year, I am incredibly excited to share with you the full results as well as some of my key learnings from the 2024 Product Survey! First, THANK YOU! Before we dive ahead into the slightly overwhelming abyss of numbers, findings, and feedback, I want to take a very quick moment to thank everyone who took the time to complete this years' not-at-all-short survey. I know some of you may have only been motivated by a little $500 gift card giveaway carrot, but it means the world to us to have your insights and thoughts all the same. Seriously, every single form of customer and community feedback that we gather - be it this annual survey, emails, text messages, social DMs - have a massive impact on our approaches to everything from product improvements, new item innovations, and overarching brand direction, and your time and feedback means more to us than I think you will ever know. This years' questions One more thing to add: if you've been following along at all with these surveys over the years, then you will surely recognize many of the questions shared below. While the results below may seem a bit redundant when viewed next to our historical info, I did want to keep some standardization with the questions within our survey. By doing this, we are able to look at how the data might be changing over time, giving us even more insight into how specific preferences or trends may be behaving year over year. Of course, every year there are a myriad of new things that my team and I want to learn about from the community so you will see some new info below including the additions of age, gender, and a few more product/feature specific inquiries. >> Read our 2022 and 2023 Product Survey Results. << And now, let's jump right in....enjoy! Here's a quick glance at who participated: 659 individuals completed the survey. 81.2% currently own TREW Gear. With which gender do you identify? 58.6 male 40.8% female 0.5% non-binary 0.1% prefer not to say What is your age? 0.9% under 18 3.2% 18-24 10% 24-28 22% 28-34 20.9% 34-40 26.7% 40-50 11.2% 50-60 5.0% 60+ How do you enjoy sliding on snow? (not mutually exclusive, so does not add up to 100%) 68% ski 42% snowboard/splitboard 5.7% telemark ski How would you rate your ski/ride ability? 1.7% are just learning/beginner 3.3% are novice 19.7% are intermediate 42.2% are advanced 33.1% are expert How long have you been skiing/snowboarding? 2.1% less than a year 4.4% 1-3 years 6.7% 3-5 years 12.4% 5-10 years 20.8% 10-20 years 53.6% 20+ years Where do you like to ski/ride? 1.2% in the backcountry only 5.0% in the backcountry primarily, with some time at the resort 16.2% split about 50/50 between backcountry and resort 43.4% at the resort only 34.3% at the resort primarily, with some time in the backcountry Did you have a seasons pass for the 2023/24 season? 46.3% had passes to their local hill/mountain 29.7% had IKON Passes 19.3% had EPIC Passes 3.6% had Indy Passes 17.5% did not have any season passes How would you describe your outerwear style? 2.4% form-fitting 51.9% relaxed 37.8% loose 7.3% baggy 0.6% ultra-baggy Some quick notes from the above: We're seeing an uptick on snowboarder/splitboarder participation since we began these surveys in 2022! Since our first survey we have seen the rate of snowboarders/splitboarders almost double. Whether that means that we're seeing a rise in the overall sport, or this segment of one-plankers is just growing in our own respective TREW community of survey-takers, it's hard to know...but nonetheless, I found this pretty cool. We are also seeing a rise in backcountry participation across our respondents. While the majority of people are still spending much of their time at the resort, we are seeing an increase in those who are spending at least some time out of bounds - from 49.9% 2022 up to 65.7% in 2024. Loose and baggy have a slight uptick compared to previous years, but we're still seeing the majority of replies opting for a relaxed fit - which alligns with the intended fit/style of TREW outerwear. Note: for both future surveys and for online sizing/fit guidance, it would be incredible to have more visual assitance - graphics, images, etc. - to help define these different fits. How does one person's definition of relaxed compare to anothers? How can we make this more consistent and therefore easier for someone to communicate their desired fit + ultimately get the right size/style to meet that? JACKETS Here's how people responded to our questions regarding their jackets and jacket preferences: How many [ski/snowboard] jackets do you own? How long of a jacket do you like? Do you wear your gloves over or under your jacket cuffs? Do you use the pass pocket (forearm pocket) on your jacket? If so, for what? How do you feel about wrist/hand gaiters? Do you utilize pit zips? Key findings from Jacket questions: Overall, jacket preferences have not changed very much over the years and we are seeing consistency on many questions.... The biggest trends we're seeing within the jacket section is that, year over year, the amount of jackets that one person has is slowly increasing. From all information gathered from folks, it does look as if more and more people have a collection of 2-3 jackets - and some with 4+ - that all preform best in certain conditions, climates, etc. Let's talk jacket length for a hot minute: when compared to previous years, we're seeing a gradual merge to the middle where most participants wanting their jacket to hit mid-bum. Where in years past, we've seen more spread of folks wanting either a below the bum length or something at or slightly below the hip, the majority preference is now right in the middle. This is a pretty big change that we're seeing unfold, and we will be roping this learning into our designs for next season and beyond so that our jacket lengths/fits stay on point. Quick sub-point here that I thought was interesting: when looking at jacket length preferences as a function of different demographics, I found that female responders showed a much higher preference for a longer jacket length than men. For example, where only 10% of men liked a jacket that covered their entire butt, 22% of women enjoyed full coverage. I didn't find any strong correlations within any other data points on this subject. While there isn't a huge amount of change in the stats around wrist gaiters since last year, if you've been following along at all over the years you know that this can be a contentious and sometimes polarizing topic. I spent a bit of time digging into the wrist gaiter question while extrapolating certain data points to see if there was any correlation between a specific demographic and their preference for gaiters on their jackets; what I found was that, while not all-encompassing, there was a strong correlation between people wanting wrist gaiters and those same people being relatively new to the sport (between 1-3 years) and riding only in the resort. As the experience someone had in the sport and the time they spent in the backcountry increased, the lower their desire for wrist gaiters. My main takeaway here is that if/when we add gaiters to any of our jackets, we should do so with some of our more resort-oriented products such as our insulated or shell 2L jackets. BIBS/PANTS Delving into people's preferences on bibs and pants, and everything that comes along with this garment type: Do you wear bibs or pants? How many pairs of pants/bibs do you own? If you wear bibs, do you ever wear a belt with them or use the belt loops? How do you feel about leg vents? How long of a pant/bib leg do you like? (Answers based on having ski/snowboard boots on.) Where do you prefer to carry your beacon (if you wear one)? Mesh lining in vents: yay or ney? Pant/bib cuff adjustments: what's your take? 30.5% I really don't care much either way 30.2% I don't like having any snaps or zippers at the bottom of my pant 14.7% I like having snaps at the bottom of the pant to adjust the circumference as needed 19.9% I like having zippers/snaps at the bottom of the pant to help me get the cuff over my boot 4.7% Other Key findings from Bibs/Pants questions: Bibs are still king! We did bring back pants this past year, both in 2L and 3L styles, but we continue to see bibs sell best across the board. While we have been seeing people accruing more jackets over the years, bibs/pants do not seem to be having the same growth in numbers. For every pair of pants or bibs that someone owns, that same person is likely to have two jackets. While those who wear belts with their bibs are in the minority, the amount of people who enjoy having belt loops - and even are adamantly against them being removed in future designs - is very high. While not encapsulated entirely within the above graph, there were quite a few people who made a comment in one or more longer-form answers stating that despite not wearing a belt they wouldn't purchase bibs that didn't have belt loops. 82.7% of responders opt for a bib/pant leg that hits at or below the ankle joint (with boots on). I don't necessarily find this surprising, as this is right around where we recommend our bibs and pants to fall on the wearer, but of note is that this number has been gradually increasing over the past three years and the overall preference for a longer pant leg has been increasing by about 3-4% a year. Finally, mesh lining in vents. Another topic that gets a bit heated, and quite the dividing preference within our community. I do my best to take both my own feelings and those of the rest of the TREW team out of the equation so as to stay as unbiased as possible here...and what this year's tally shows is that there really isn't a right answer on this. People like all sorts of different things when it comes to this question: some will only wear items with mesh lining, some are so against mesh that they sent me personal emails in all caps stating as much. New for this year and based on feedback from 2023, I did change the options for this question to allow people to voice their preference for mesh on certain areas - either on their jackets or on their bibs. Unsurprisingly, the results show that more people prefer mesh on their bibs/pants but not on their jacket - which does correspond with one of the loudest complaints from folks around snow getting into their pants when their vents are open. Quick correlation update here: similar to what I found with wrist gaiters, mesh lining is something that those who spend more time at the resort prefer most. I am not at all surprised by this, as those looking for items for touring are thinking about getting the best airflow as well as keeping their item(s) pared down on any unnecessary weight. Sure, mesh in vents is not going to rack up a ton of grams but what it will do is block some crucial airflow and make ventilation a lot harder when you really want it. Also to note, we added mesh to the vents on our Eagle Pant PRIMO this past season. Feedback has been varied, with some enjoying this feature and others not so much....but for those who love mesh in their vents, we do hear you and we are working on ways to bring this option to some of our items without falling into any issues with product longevity. In case your weren't yet aware, mesh in vents is notorious for causing zipper issues. IYKYK. GENERAL FINDINGS Now that we've gone through the more granular product preferences from this years survey, it's time to hit on some of the more nuanced feedback and trends that emerged. First, colors. This is always a big item on these surveys and we field countless emails, calls, and texts from people sharing their stoke or their complaints about our current colors. Color is incredibly subjective, emotional, and preferential. There is no winning on color. Well, that's true except for Purps which seems to be breaking everything we have learned as a company over the years about color trending and fads, and has become something of a TREW craze....but that's a whole other story. To hear more thoughts and get the full lowdown here, I strongly urge you to check out our 2022 Survey Results post where I get into the weeds. But in hopes of keeping this 2024 analysis moving along, I will leave that there. Prices. Our gear isn't cheap. Many of you brought this up and mentioned that you would like to see our prices come down....and I get it, I really do. But ultimately, what you are seeing on pricing is driven by a huge amount of competitive cost analysis and accounting for materials, supplies, sourcing, transportation, and so much more. Something that many of you mentioned was loving that TREW was a small company, with some of you saying that you really enjoyed being unique on your respective mountain because you're not surrounded by a sea of thumb's ups. We love being small, too! But one of the major downsides of our size is that it is more expensive for us to design, manufacture, and sell our items than many of our competitors given that we aren't making nearly as many units; our cost of goods per item is significantly higher than that of an equivalent item from another, larger brand. We do our best to stay as low on our pricing as we can while staying competitive and within the realm of our main competitors, and when we have the chance we stay low on price-point because we want to be as accessible as possible to anyone and everyone looking to get out on snow. Our 2-layer Outerwear In the last two years, we have been working on expanding our product line to allow even more people to enjoy our gear - most notably with the release of our 2-layer PNW Orginals Collection, which brings a whole lot of quality and value to our lineup without the hefty price tags. I wouldn't call it cheap, and for some it still doesn't fall within the range of affordable, but our PNW Originals doesn't skimp or compromise on anything while coming in at more palatable price. These are more resort-oriented items, and they will not be as comfortable or performance-driven for those looking for backcountry apparel - but if you are in the market for resort outerwear that can take a beating while keeping you dry and warm, this is for you! (I bring this up primarily because many people mentioned in the survey that they thought we should offer more items at a lower price point and get into the 2-layer market....and we already do, it just may have fallen to the wayside next to some of our other offerings.) Also, see below and learn more about how we're building up on our circularity while also making some of our items even more approachable for any wallet size. Next up, trade-ins and buying used. For those of you looking for ways to trade-in your old gear or shop lightly used TREW items, check out The Afterlife! Through this program, you can recycle or trade-in old items for store credit, shop lightly used gear, and even snag one-of-a-kind upcycled items from small-batch makers during our monthly + quarterly drops.We are looking to expand The Afterlife in the coming years. Thank you all who have participated or shopped within the program and helped to build it up to what it is today! And last but not least...a reminder that this is very much an ongoing feedback loop. There were so many fantastic notes, ideas, thoughts, and so much more from all of you. I could spend hours upon hours delving into each minute topic that was addressed within the survey, but as much as I would love to have those conversations with each of you there just isn't enough time - our time, your time...we're all busy! - in the world to touch on everything. While your specific feedback may not have been mentioned within this article, or you come through this feeling unheard, please rest assured that we went through and read every single word that was written within this survey. Andrew, our Customer Service manager, and I spent a huge amount of our time reviewing, reading, and taking notes - both individually and together - and we will continue to delve deeper into every facet of the results as we have time open up for more projects this summer. There is so much to unpack, and we'll be busy tackling our increasingly low to-do list well into next season....and right up until the next product survey :) Thank you to each and every one of you who took the time to take this year's survey and be a part of our continual journey towards being the best brand we can be. You mean the world to us, and we would be nothing without you all! To tie a bow on this... On behalf of everyone on the TREW team, we're very excited about what we've learned from this survey, and we aim to break out some of the larger topics into separate articles and emails over the summer months. It is so hard to do everything justice within just one large results summary without distracting from the most prominent points, so keep an eye out for more specific, breakout articles coming soon....
