The majority of NCA members have purchased products from these companies in the past two years.
NCA members play a huge role in the costume industry, based on a survey of their buying habits conducted last week.
One key question asked “Approximately how much money do you spend on new inventory each year?” The answers ranged widely, from below $10,000 to nearly $1 million, but the average was about $150,000. If that figure is extrapolated to the entire NCA membership, the organization’s members as a whole spend nearly $15 million a year. That’s a lot of costumes, accessories, make-up and other goods!
Another question asked members to rank the factors go into their decision to purchase products. Not surprisingly, quality came out on top. That was followed by “The product will be unique in my store (in my community),” which speaks to the sentiment among NCA members that they need to sell interesting products that are not easily found at the more general retailers in their community. The availability of discounts for NCA members and the in-stock status of the products also were ranked as very important by members.
Which vendors receive the most business from NCA members? The survey revealed that Morris Costumes, which sells its own products and distributes other vendors’ products, is the most-used vendor – almost 95 percent of respondents said they had purchased from Morris within the last two years. Rubies was close behind, with about 90 percent. Other top-scoring vendors were elope and Halco, which tied at 74 percent; and Trick or Treat Studios, Mehron, Underwraps and Jacobson Hat, all of which have been patronized by 69 percent of members in the past two years. A total of 53 vendors received at least one mention by survey respondents, which shows the wide diversity of vendors NCA members purchase from.
Regarding which NCA benefits are most popular among members, Costumer magazine came out on top – 84 percent of respondents said they read the quarterly publication. The NCA Buyer’s Group was next, with 79 percent of members using those discounts. And the NCA e-newsletter and the website, costumers.org, rounded out the top four benefits – 63 percent of respondents view those digital media.
The survey results contain a lot of other interesting information, some of which will inform future NCA programs. NCA Vendor Members can expect to get a complete report from the survey in the near future.
Note to NCA Buyer Members: If you have not completed the survey, we would still love to have your input! If you don’t have the link to the survey, email Ed Avis at executivedirector@costumers.org.