A plain read on real buyer demand in two connected categories, measured by how many people search each term on Google every month. Higher search means more buyers looking. The numbers below are the most recent complete month of data.
The whole snapshot, formatted to print. Save it to your phone for the bins.
“Monthly searches” is the average number of U.S. Google searches for that exact term per month. It measures how many buyers are actively looking. “Direction” compares the most recent month to the same month one year earlier.
Demand in scrubs sits with the brand names, not the generic terms. Plain searches like “scrub pants” are flat. The brands people search by name are where the volume is — and they are splitting into two groups: a few pulling ahead, several sliding.
Koi scrubs jumped from 18,100 searches three months ago to 74,000 last month — up 400% from the same month a year ago, and the highest it has been in nearly four years of data. Most sellers haven't noticed yet.
Buy scrubs by brand name, not as generic pieces. FIGS and Mandala are the reliable high-volume anchors. Koi is the timely one — demand is climbing sharply while supply is still thin. Cherokee, Grey's Anatomy, and WonderWink are cooling, so don't pay up for them.
Maternity demand rises in late fall and winter and drops through summer. It's in that summer low point now — most terms are well below where they sat in January. Nothing is declining as a category; it's the normal calendar. As in scrubs, branded maternity holds its value better than generic pieces through the slow stretch.
In the current low point, buy maternity for value, not volume. Branded maternity (Kindred Bravely, PinkBlush, Motherhood, Bumpsuit) keeps demand through the slow months better than unbranded pieces. Anything sourced cheaply now sells into the seasonal rise that comes back around in late fall and winter.
The overlap between the two categories is the most defensible pocket here. The search numbers are smaller, but the demand is real and steady, and far fewer sellers compete in it. One term is growing fast.
This is a velocity play, not a volume play — steady demand with almost no competing sellers. FIGS maternity is the specific standout, with search up 175% over the past year. If a maternity scrub piece can be sourced, it belongs in inventory.
That was the whole read. Take the printable version with you — keep it open while you source, or save it to your phone for the bins.
Download the Snapshot (PDF) PDF · ~304 KBScrubs and maternity are in this snapshot because readers asked for them. Every month the poll goes out with the newsletter and the winner gets built. That vote is the one thing subscribing gets you that nothing else does.