E-shopping boost for football merchandise
According to new research, 40 per cent of football fans will buy online for the first time this Christmas, most of them via their favourite club’s official online shop.
During the Christmas shopping period, online merchandise sales will account for nearly a third – 30 per cent – of total sales for football clubs’ merchandise, an increase of 200 per cent year on year.
Premium TV (PTV), which commissioned the research, says it expects total sales for the 35 online club shops it operates for football clubs to top &£2m this year. The study suggests that an online club shop can double overall merchandise sales and increase the average spend from &£40 in store to &£70 online.
PTV has just added Birmingham City Football Club to its portfolio of online club shops. In addition to the home and away kits, training and womenswear, gifts, souvenirs and books, the new shop features a gift finder, which suggests ideas based on gender, age and price bracket. PTV has also added order tracking for fans.
PTV is an end-to-end digital media business supplying to the global sports industry and Europe’s leading media companies, including MTV, NTL, Canal-plus Nordic, Ernst & Young, Playboy TV and Coors Brewers. In the UK, PTV is a market-leading digital sports publisher with rights to 83 UK football clubs through joint ventures and partnerships.
