A surge in country music listening has prompted Sydney retailer Route 66 to update its website amid growing demand for vintage cowboy clothes.
Speaking with Ragtrader, Route 66 director Leroi Waddington said he hired a local social media expert to help relaunch the website. The aim was to align it towards a broader target audience, with performance stats showing an increase in the number of orders received.
"We started our website prior to when Shopify and Square were available," Waddington said. "To be able to publish and organise products through an app now is so much easier and efficient."
Traffic to the Route 66 website is mostly pushed by social media, which is where the rise of sales has come from according to Waddington. "For example, sponsored posts on Instagram will link traffic straight to the website," he said.
"Having a vintage store with so many 'one off' items is very time consuming to publish everything on the website, so I also use it as a lookbook for what the rest of the store has to offer. Many customers see what’s on offer online and make the journey into the physical store to see what else we have. This means I get to meet new people with similar interests, which I love."
The surge in country music popularity has also been spotlighted by the music events and production agency Live Nation, in a study that confirmed Australia is now the third-largest country music market in the world, behind the United States and Canada.
Gen Z in metropolitan areas are leading this surge, with 68 per cent now listening to more country music than ever before, reportedly due to its seamless genre crossover with pop, rock and hip hop.
Meanwhile, 67 per cent of Australians follow a country music artist on social media, with TikTok recording an impressive 196 million video views on #CountryMusic in Australia over the last 12 months. Recent data from Spotify shows that 92 per cent of country music streams come from metropolitan areas across the country.
This collective impact has influenced purchasing decisions, with retailers seeing an uplift in sales for country-inspired fashion and homewares.
One in two music fans surveyed have worn or purchased country-inspired fashion in the past year, with 40 per cent purchasing country-inspired decor or furnishings.
Over one in three have noticed the influence of country music on social media (46 per cent), events (40 per cent), TV, movies, books (36 per cent) and beverages (35 per cent), with 24 per cent directly seeing its influence on advertising and branding.
Live Nation AU/NZ SVP and head of media and sponsorship Kristy Rosser said country music is offering brands a unique opportunity to tap into mainstream audiences.
“What we are seeing is a shift in perception for traditional country music from ‘nostalgic’ and ‘emotional’ to ‘on the rise’, ‘diverse’ and ‘progressive’,” Rosser said. “These new fans located in urban areas didn’t grow up with country music; they’ve found it through mainstream channels, influencing their lifestyle preferences and driving growth across the retail, FMCG and entertainment categories.”
Waddington added that he and his team are also seeing a growing trend among other mainstream and fast fashion businesses leaning into the Western aesthetic.
“There has definitely been a rise in western-themed weddings/parties and younger customers buying cowboy boots, hats and western shirts,” he said. “With the rise of country music popularity, we definitely have an influx of business when big music artists are touring Australia – concert goers buy outfits to align with the music style.”
In recent months, country music artists such as Luke Combs, Charley Crockett and Orville Peck have toured Australia.
Some of the key products seeing demand at Route 66 include vintage music tees, authentic western denim brands such as Wrangler and Levi’s, as well as western boots.
Since the influx of mainstream artists shifting to country music, including Post Malone and Beyoncé, Waddington said some particular pieces have seen wild surges.
“A good example is Beyoncé wearing Stetson cowboy hats onstage and her recent collaboration with Levi’s jeans,” he said. “Post Malone has become a bit of a style icon with his vintage Americana look onstage wearing Wrangler cowboy cut jeans, vintage music t-shirts and cowboy boots.”
Named after the original mother road that crosses North America, Route 66 in Australia was born in 1983 with a store in Melbourne. The brand then ventured into New South Wales, opening a store in Sydney’s Inner West. The Melbourne store has since closed, with its Newtown store standing strong.