The Top Five Promo Categories to Consider Right Now

There’s a lot of opportunity in the $27.7 billion North American promotional products market. For print service providers looking to ramp up their promo sales – or just getting started – it’s worth taking a look at the biggest product categories in the industry.

T-shirts were the top-selling category in promo, according to the 2026 Counselor State of the Industry report.

Luckily, ASI Research gathers distributor sales info every year, publishing all those stats and more in our annual Counselor State of the Industry report. These top five categories offer a surefire entry point for PSPs.

1. T-shirts: A promo staple, T-shirts accounted for 14.8% of the North American promotional products market, or $4.09 billion, in 2025. Leveraging screen-printing, direct-to-garment or direct-to-film technology, PSPs can fulfill orders for schools, events, company uniforms or other verticals. The possibili-tees (sorry, not sorry) are endless.
2. Wearables (other): Next up on the list is an apparel catchall, encompassing hoodies, sweatshirts, jackets, socks and pants. This category made up 10.5% of sales, or $2.91 billion, in 2025. When it comes to fleece, higher-end touches like mock necks or polo-collared sweatshirts are trending for a variety of markets, with end-users wanting elevated looks that will carry them straight from work to the weekend.
3. Polos: The quintessential work uniform, polos make up 9.2% of the promo market, with $2.56 billion in 2025 distributor sales. Traditionally a canvas for a left-chest embroidered logo, polo shirts have evolved in recent years, with performance features, subtle patterns and tailored silhouettes. Consider changing up decoration methods (perhaps a 3-D heat transfer emblem) or logo placement (adding decoration to the sleeve rather than the chest) to keep things fresh.
4. Drinkware: With the popularity of name brands like Stanley and Owala over the last few years, drinkware had been on an upward trajectory, but the category declined for the second consecutive year in 2025, with $2.54 billion in sales, or around 9.2%. That’s the category’s lowest percentage of industry sales since 2020. Despite the slump, there’s still plenty of opportunity in this category, with buyers looking for premium decoration techniques, personalization and trend-driven designs that turn drinkware into lifestyle accessories, rather than basic promo items.
5. Caps/Headwear: Rounding out the top five is headwear, which made up $2.34 billion in 2025 sales, or 8.4%. Headwear is a versatile option for company stores, employee appreciation gifts or retail gift shops. Rope caps continue to be on trend in this category, with promo suppliers iterating on the look with modular ropes in a variety of colors and designs. Plus, they’ve been adding rope detailing to perforated performance caps, as well as truckers and more classic mesh-back caps.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.