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Football fans consume more as World Cup enters knockout stage
CGTN
Customers browse footballs at a store in Yiwu city in east China's Zhejiang Province, October 31, 2022. /CFP
Customers browse footballs at a store in Yiwu city in east China's Zhejiang Province, October 31, 2022. /CFP

Customers browse footballs at a store in Yiwu city in east China's Zhejiang Province, October 31, 2022. /CFP

Enthusiasm is soaring among football fans in China as the World Cup enters the knockout stage, fueling a tournament-induced consumption drive.

Winter is usually the off-season for sales of football-related products. However, jersey sales tripled year on year over the last week on JD Mall, while sales of football-related products more than doubled over the previous month, data from JD.com showed.

Apart from rising sales of more common World Cup-related commodities like sports gear and souvenirs, this year, sales of fall-proof products have spiked due to the tournament's many shocking results.

Several viral social media clips captured frustrated fans smashing TVs and throwing mobile phones after their favorite teams lost unexpectedly.

Sales of various fall-proof products increased by 252 percent year on year, with sales of TV remotes soaring almost eightfold, according to Chinese e-commerce giant Meituan.

Due to the time difference, many games in this year's World Cup start at midnight Beijing time, causing many fans to stay up late to watch them. Meituan data shows that since the start of the tournament, sales of instant coffee on the platform have risen by 262 percent. Meanwhile, orders for large-screen TVs of 75 inches and above more than doubled compared with the same period last year on JD.com.

Many Chinese parents have purchased football-related accessories and toys for their children, JD.com data showed. Sales of football accessories for children more than tripled over the past month, and sales of football toys increased by 169 percent.

Yicai.com quoted a merchant from JD.com saying that he thinks the World Cup will increase the general consumption of football-related products. He also hopes the momentum continues with subsequent tournaments like the Champions League, the Premier League, and the Women's World Cup next year.

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