As more people are buying backpacks for a variety of uses, the industry is becoming more competitive, with brands vying for market share.
A few brands, like JanSport, have become household names, but many smaller startups are beginning to make serious inroads in the market.
Here are the key backpack brand statistics from our research.
Top Backpack Brands by Google Search Volume
One way to compare the top backpack brands is by search volume. While this isn’t a perfect metric for revenue or number of backpacks sold, it is an accurate way to gauge the interest and brand awareness in a particular brand.
I did in-depth Google search analysis to find the brands with the highest search volume on Google. Because many of the brands sell more products than just backpacks (like Nike, for whom backpacks are merely an accessory product), I used search terms that include the word “backpack” or “backpacks” (whichever ranked higher).
The table below shows the top 20 backpack brands rated by Google search volume.
Top Backpack Brands by Search Volume
Brand
Monthly Search Volume
1
Jansport
191000
2
Nike
90000
3
The North Face
83000
4
Lululemon
52000
5
Herschel
40000
6
Patagonia
35000
7
Osprey
34000
8
Carhartt
33000
9
Tumi
29000
10
Adidas
27000
11
Gucci
18000
12
Ogio
18000
13
Fjallraven
17000
14
Cotopaxi
15000
15
High Sierra
15000
16
REI
10000
17
NOMATIC
9800
18
Timbuk2
8000
19
Dakine
8000
20
Beis
7000
Interestingly, of the top 10 brands by search volume, only 3 specialize specifically in backpacks. Many of the top brands are apparel companies that have built out backpack product lines (Nike, Lululemon, and Adidas).
Within this top 20 list, there is a wide range of travel, urban, and outdoor brands.
The undisputed leader of the pack is JanSport, which has more than double the search volume of Nike backpacks in second place. This makes sense if you’ve spent much time in a school or college campus and paid attention to the backpack brands. That little JanSport patch is everywhere.
Top Backpack Brands by Category
Backpacks can be divided into three broad categories: everyday backpacks (which includes school, laptop, and commuting bags), travel backpacks, and outdoor backpacks. The table below shows the five most popular brands in each category.
Everyday
Travel
Outdoor
1
JanSport
Tumi
The North Face
2
Nike
Cotopaxi
Patagonia
3
The North Face
Nomatic
Osprey
4
Lululemon
Timbuk2
Fjallraven
5
Herschel
Beis
Cotopaxi
Note that The North Face appears in both the everyday and outdoor backpack lists. While The North Face originally started as an outdoor gear company, it has broadened its product range to include a variety of daily carry backpacks for school, commuting, travel, and laptop carry. This brought the brand more into the mainstream.
It’s also worth noticing that JanSport and The North Face are both owned by the same parent company: VF, which also controls Timberland and Eastpak. Between its varied brands, VF accounts for 55% of backpack sales in the US, according to the New York Times.
Backpack Brand Factory Locations
I analyzed 82 of the world’s most popular backpack brands to find their factory locations and see how backpack manufacturing is distributed around the globe. Some brands own a single factory and perform all product assembly under one roof. Others contract out to dozens or even hundreds of factories around the world to make their products.
The chart below shows the percentage of brands that rely on factories in each region.
% of Brands by Factory Location
Asia-Pacific
82.9%
North America
28.0%
Europe
13.4%
South America
4.9%
Africa
1.2%
Unsurprisingly, Asia has the highest concentration of backpack manufacturing by far, with 82.9% of brands using manufacturing facilities in Asian countries. China, Vietnam, and the Philippines account for the majority of backpack manufacturing in Asia.
28% of brands have some manufacturing in the United States, while only 9.8% manufacture exclusively in the US. For many of these brands (like GORUCK and Hyperlite Mountain Gear), “made in the USA” is one of their major marketing claims.
