However Much Money the TTC Spent on Its Merch Store, It Was Way Too Much
Just in time for the holiday season, the TTC has unveiled its master plan to cover its multi-million dollar budget shortfall: Merchandising.
Launched last month, TTCshop.ca is the official source for TTC merchandise. You can get TTC t-shirts, TTC coffee mugs and, soon, TTC USB keys. Hell, orders over $100 even get free shipping. Fun!
Just 13, 000 people visited the site last month, according to SimilarWeb.com, an online tool measuring web traffic. Compare that to the 44.7 million riders the Red Rocket averaged each month last year.
By my back-of-the-napkin math, the TTC would have to sell about 19.5 million coffee mugs to fill its $172m budget hole. That’s about seven mugs for every man, woman and child in Toronto. They make great stocking stuffers, by the way.
The pivot into merchandise is a wise move, frankly, as the Transit Commission seeks to capitalize on its obvious brand-affinity within Toronto. These are some comments on a Facebook ad that the TTC ran.
Besides, if I learned anything from Spaceballs, it’s that merchandise is where the real money is made:
