Sovrn

Houston is showing strong spring shopping intent right now. The biggest signals are coming from three categories: 1. Home & Garden 2. Furniture 3. Kitchen & Dining That tracks for the season. Consumers are refreshing, reorganizing, and upgrading their spaces. What’s notable is where that demand is concentrated. According to the Sovrn Data Collective, Houston is over-indexing 500% above the national average across all three categories. The broader market helps explain why. Among the top 10 U.S. cities, Houston stands out for its young and growing population: - Median age: 34.4 - 15.5% of residents are in their 20s - Average family size: 3.35, second-largest among the top 10 cities The takeaway: Houston is full of young families actively investing in their homes. For marketers, that’s the signal to watch. Spring demand is not just showing up in search interest. It’s showing up in real commerce behavior, at scale, in one of the largest metro areas in the country.

Ask someone to name beauty capitals of the United States and they'll likely say New York, LA, maybe Miami. 💄   New commerce data from the Sovrn Data Collective shows that some of the strongest beauty shopping signals are coming from places most brands aren’t prioritizing. - Washington, D.C. indexes 55,073x the national average for hair products - Washington, D.C. also indexes 33,726x for cosmetics - Louisville, Kentucky indexes 16,536x for cosmetics (nearly matching Brooklyn’s 17,672x) - St. Louis indexes 22,529x for health & beauty, making it the #2 market in the country So while brands fight for attention on the coasts, shoppers in unexpected cities are quietly driving serious demand. These aren’t opinions. They’re not survey responses. They’re real commerce signals from millions of daily shoppers. Beauty demand is more distributed than most marketers think. https://lnkd.in/gbWEqvCq

Today is the first day of spring, and if search behavior is any signal, consumers are already in reset mode. They're decluttering. Deep cleaning. Looking up allergy shots for their dogs. But search trends only tell you what's top of mind. They don't show where that intent goes next. That's where commerce data becomes more valuable. According to Sovrn Insights: - Pet supplies shoppers are also buying home & garden (62%) and building materials (60%) - Household supplies shoppers are also buying shoes (70%) and tech gear (66%) - Health & wellness shoppers are also buying new bedding (46%) The spring reset is rarely just one purchase. That's the difference between search data and commerce data. One shows what people are thinking about. The other shows where intent turns into action.

The biggest March Madness surprise might not be your bracket. It might be your audience data. We analyzed cross-category shopping overlaps from the Sovrn Data Collective and found consumer behavior patterns most marketers probably would not predict: - 42% of cosmetic & beauty buyers also shop tech & electronics - 64% of bedding & mattress shoppers also shop athletic gear - 40% of seasonings & spices shoppers also shop tech & electronics - 65% of sporting goods shoppers also shop for grooming products The beauty buyer is also a tech enthusiast. The mattress shopper is also an athlete. The home cook is also upgrading their setup. Consumers do not live in a single category. They move across interests, needs, and behaviors that most media plans still treat as separate audiences. That is the gap. The audience you think is niche may be much more connected than it looks. #MarchMadness #AudienceData #ConsumerInsights

The team is in NYC this week for Marketecture Media Live, hosted alongside ADWEEK, TVREV, and AdTechGod ®️. With shifting consumer behavior as a main theme across the agenda, we're excited to talk about what Sovrn's first-party shopping signals can actually unlock. Find our team there to learn more. #MarketectureLive

Yesterday, we shared that camera lenses rank #8 in purchase activity across SEC towns. Here's where it gets sharp: College Station, TX, and Nashville, TN, both rank among the highest per-capita markets for camera gear. Same conference, but significantly different buyers. College Station Median age: 22 Median HHI: $31K Nashville Median age: 44 Median HHI: $151K A 22-year-old building a starter kit and a 44-year-old upgrading to pro gear are not the same audience. But most campaigns treat them like one. How to use this: College towns → value positioning, student pricing, starter bundles. Metros like Nashville → premium upgrades, pro workflows, higher-AOV creative. If you sell creator tools (SaaS, editing software, beauty, tech, apparel): the intent is in the data. Layer geo + purchase signal. Conference ≠ cohort. The brands that segment by market — not by region — will win these audiences. These insights come from real purchase signal data available through Sovrn Commerce Audiences.

The SEC is a $1B+ media rights conference, and every brand wants in. But the most interesting commerce signal in SEC markets isn’t just about game day 🏈 – it’s about photography gear. 📸 Camera lenses ranked #8 in total purchase activity across SEC conference towns. 3.21M purchases. That's not tailgate merch. That's creator-economy spending, at scale, in markets most media plans treat as sports-only. The SEC markets aren't just a sports audience. It's a network of creator economies hiding in plain sight. More on who's actually buying — and where tomorrow.

⛳ The best golf audience insight this week has nothing to do with tees or clubs. Golf isn’t a retiree category. It’s a “power couple” signal. Across major commerce categories, golf has the highest dual-income household rate (57.3%), paired with above-average college education (41.5%) and charitable giving (24.6%). That combination points to dual-earning professional households using golf for recreation and networking. And the “where to target” is not what most advertisers expect: Detroit ranks #1 among major markets with a 4x over-index of people shopping for golf gear. How to use this in campaigns: - Test dual-income + golf intent (creative should lean lifestyle, travel, premium, and experience). - Layer in geo concentration: Detroit is a high-signal market to validate for efficient reach and lead quality. - If you sell premium goods/services, treat golf as a proxy for household decision-makers. If you’re running golf targeting today, optimize for signals + geo. https://lnkd.in/gbWEqvCq

We’re headed to #RampUp2026. Want to see what first-party commerce signals actually unlock? Sovrn commerce audiences are built from real shopping behavior. That means you can identify and activate high-value consumers with geographic precision. For example: In San Francisco, Antivirus & Security Software shoppers over-index 328x vs. the national average, with 1K+ active buyers in ZIP code 94102 alone. If you’re focused on performance, let's talk!

The Sovrn team is excited to be part of the conversation at IAB ALM alongside industry leaders shaping what’s next for digital. Reach out to learn how our approach to Commerce Audiences is different and how it can help grow your advertising, commerce, or data business. Chris George Jeff Meglio Isaac Schechtman Peter Cunha