MUMBAI: The FIFA World Cup has taken the country by storm and Indian e-commerce platforms are seeing a growth in sales of team jerseys, footballs and various branded, exclusive gear.
Argentina, Germany and Brazil’s merchandise are the most in demand, Press Trust of India reports.
“We have witnessed a sharp spike in footballs, jerseys, shorts and tracks. The football World Cup is a big revenue driver for the Sports Business with Football contribution to business increasing by 40% over April-June,” Myntra VP and head (Sports, Footwear and Accessories) Puspen Maity told PTI.
Another e-commerce platform ShopClues claimed that in the last 16 days, an average of 4,000 footballs have been sold per day.
“Other merchandise like jerseys have also seen a spike. We are selling about 300-350 fan jerseys every day,” a ShopClues spokesperson said.
When it comes to the battle of sexes, Rishi Vasudev, vice president of Flipkart (Fashion) revealed that 33% of its football merchandise have been purchased so by far by women.
“Clothing and jerseys have seen close to 20x jump in sales with 95% of sales in jerseys and fan t-shirts alone… Flipkart this year saw an opportunity and stocked official merchandise for men, women and kids. This has paid off with a third of the sales coming from women’s merchandise,” Vasudev said.
It isn’t just jerseys but training equipments, collectibles such as bobbleheads, shin guards, nets and even referees’ whistles.
Amazon, amongst the world’s top online retailers, have gone a step ahead in India and trained its Alexa-powered ‘Echo’ smart speakers to not only deliver live match updates but also answer questions relating to the World Cup.
