We’ve been a bit quiet regarding our apparel plans for 2020, and though we’ll have some more details to share in the coming weeks, I wanted to get a quick overview out so you guys know what’s up!
We have seen a ton of feedback and responses to the limited nature of the LQD drop and some of the technical errors involving the store.
We’ve taken immediate steps to improve the shop experience at the technical level and will continuously optimize all components of our store from design to checkout. Ultimately, we envision LQD products as limited so selling out quickly is not necessarily a bad thing in our eyes but we'll be analyzing the data from each drop and making adjustments through the year.
I also want to explain a bit more about the distinctions between LQD and Team Liquid Apparel. LQD as a brand is an exploration of what we can do on the lifestyle side of our industry. As we continue to develop both parallels, the marketing, tone, production timelines, quantities, quality, and design directions will be tonally different. The lines are a bit blurred right now, but there will be more clarity as we grow.
Team Liquid Apparel 2020
Team Liquid apparel in 2020 will feel very similar to 2019 in terms of availability and cadence. Our goal is for Team Liquid core items such as jerseys, hoodies, joggers, tees, and more to be available all the time and at a variety of price points. You may notice that currently the store stock is very low. This is not a mistake! We are, and have been since early November, in the process of producing, developing, and testing new apparel for 2020.
Our first core Team Liquid apparel drop should be somewhere around late February early March. We are constantly learning as a team, so as time goes on things will get better not worse. You will see more content, upgrades to our site, better photography, pop-up activations, and much more. We are focused on higher quality items, higher quality campaigns, and a better customer experience.
It is very unfortunate that the last two drops (Dark Horse & LQD_V2) had hiccups in them. The Dark Horse jerseys should not have shipped with sponsors nor was it ever the intention. It was an honest mistake from our vendor, and we have since then taken extra steps to assure something like this should never happen again. We’re considering all angles of the customer experience in 2020! Keep the feedback coming so we can improve. 
Our Next Drop!?
Everyone has been asking us when the 2020 jersey will be available?! I have an answer for you! The jersey will be released next Friday (Jan 24th) at 11am with units in stock ready to ship, custom gamertags, and open availability on a made to order basis. These will NOT sell out!. We’ve been deep in the lab for the past few months on this item making sure every color and detail is just right to represent the brand. This will be our org wide Team Liquid jersey in 2020, so it needed to be high standard and high quality!
What can you expect?!
- We will have regular jerseys & 4 star jerseys available in stock ready to ship.
- Customized jerseys with your name on the back will take the standard 1-2 weeks top ship, the same timelines that you experienced in 2019.
- LCS Tailgate will have stock of non-customizable 4 star jerseys
- Our jerseys will not feature sponsors for this round, but we’ll let you know when this option is available.
Q&A
Q: Why don't you have sponsors on your jerseys? All the other teams do!?
A: We are working on this with our partners now and will be offering it later this year! We don't have a date just yet, but will keep you updated and estimate around 2-3 months.
Q: How do you feel about LQD products on ebay?
A: This is a tricky one. I feel great that our team is popular enough to warrant people to flip products for profits. Ultimately it is the result of a successful apparel brand strategy and that can be something to be proud of. That said, I hate that people are flipping products for profits. As someone who actually wears their shoes and does not store them on a shelf I find the resale market to be really lame at times. But we will work to try and solve this in the future. Though I will say Nike and Adidas spend millions a year and still have not fully cracked the case!
Q: Why did you only make the LQD drop so limited?
A: The fan turnout for this drop was 2-4x every drop we had in 2019. We really had no idea how the increased marketing would actually affect sales… and now we have an answer! It has a much heavier impact than anyone could have expected.
Q: Why don’t you just make more units or make items pre-sale!?
A: We are in a learning curve at the moment. Ordering proper quantities will get better with time as we have more data available to us. We have tried pre-sale, this resulted in a ton of fans being upset that items were shipping anywhere from 4-8 weeks after order. This is not a great customer experience.
- Damian Estrada - Creative Director
