💡 DTC Insights: Standout collabs and tariff impacts YTD

      September 19, 2025

      Brands are navigating a volatile stretch as costs rise and consumer demand softens. Pricing, sourcing, and cultural positioning are all in play, and the strongest companies are making careful moves to protect margin while keeping customers engaged.

      This week, we preview next week’s Tariff Impact Analysis with Cavela, highlighting how recent tariff shocks are reshaping inventory and prices. We also take a closer look at two collaborations that delivered real results — SKIMS × Cavalli and On × Loewe — with cultural insight from Oren John and SKU-level data from Particl.

      -John Fisher, Ben Chapdelaine

      PARTNER PREVIEW

      Tariffs, inventory, and the next price wave

      Source: Particl

      Our YTD data for the top 250 online brands in the Particl database shows a clear pattern: inventory has slowly depleted while prices have largely held firm, until now. The biggest inventory drops align with three major tariff shocks: April’s reciprocal tariffs, June’s steel and aluminum hikes, and the August expansion of baseline reciprocal duties.

      Next week, we’ll release the full Tariff Impact Analysis with our key partner Cavela, where we will:

    Trace how these tariff phases ripple through inventory, out-of-stocks, and price levels

    Highlight which categories (toys, electronics, apparel, beauty) are most vulnerable

    Ask whether brands can keep shielding customers or if bigger consumer-facing hikes are inevitable in the future

      By combining Particl’s SKU-level performance data with Cavela’s sourcing expertise, the report will map out where the real pressure points are, and what levers brands still have left to protect margin.

      Stay tuned for the full drop next week.

      Learn more with Particl here - JF

      DTC INSIGHTS

      Collabs that actually worked

      Source: Particl

      This week we’re taking a closer look at two of the standout collaborations we featured in Exploding Retail: SKIMS × Cavalli and On × Loewe. Both sold down fast, but for different reasons: SKIMS used luxury swimwear to spark a halo effect across its core categories, while On proved that performance and luxury can merge into premium products that consumers buy at scale.

      We teamed up with Oren John (The Internet’s Creative Director) to put these collabs in cultural context, and paired his perspective with Particl’s SKU-level data to show what really drove the hype.

      Read the full breakdown here - JF

      If you have any feedback on today's newsletter, please respond to this email; we read each reply individually.

      Written by John Fisher & Ben Chapdelaine

      --

      Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

Sign up for Particl for FREE here.

Browse previous issues.

See all reports.

Stay informed with Particl's free resources
   -  Cutting Edge Trends: Exploding Retail
Interested in inflation?
   -  Check out the free tool

  You are receiving this email because you opted-in to receive email from the list DTC Newsletter from Particl

  Particl, 11456 Temple Dr Suite 100, South Jordan, UT 84095

  Unsubscribe

💡 DTC Insights: Standout collabs and tariff impacts YTD

Subscribe for the Latest Updates

AI Powered, Real-time Data for Modern Retail Businesses.