The Lionesses triumphed last weekend, finally bringing football home for England and the impetus to sports that the win has wrought is brings a much needed boost to many retail sectors.
Sportswear, naturally, has seen a boost, with UK Soccer Shop reap particular rewards from the growing interest seen across the championships – not just from the UK, but across Europe.
It has tapped into this by leveraging the power of the marketplace Fruugo to help it reach the widest possible audience globally. The store’s strategy saw sales rise 16% on the marketplace, showcasing just how powerful marketplaces can be when combined with the natural publicity generated by something like a major football tournament.
Marketplaces are growing in power. Research out this week shows that third-party online marketplaces are set to be the largest and fastest-growing retail channel globally, accounting for nearly two thirds of online sales by 2027, with the four largest global online marketplaces – Amazon, Alibaba, Pinduoduo and JD.com – responsible for $4.3trn in global sales, up from $2.5 trillion today.
Any retailer not targeting marketplaces really needs to start thinking seriously about doing so, not least to try and drive international growth. Prime Day has shown just how marketplaces – not just Amazon, although it was the primary beneficiary – can boost sales.
This is a difficult time for smaller retailers. The cost of living crisis is slowly starting to bite, and it is the smaller players were its teeth first start to draw blood. They are suffering from hiring woes, problems with raising capital and investment, as well as seeing costs, supply chains and traffic all suffering from uncertainty, even with summer sales masking some of the issues.
