eBay expects football-related shopping to ramp up from next week as the UK gets ready to enjoy a summer of sport, according to new insights released today.
eBay Advertising’s data reveals that, ahead of the last World Cup, searches for ‘flat screen TV’, ‘sound bar’ and ‘projector’ all spiked on eBay.co.uk at a total of almost 5,000 on 26th May, as shoppers primed their homes for optimum viewing. A similar uplift is expected this year as the nation gets ready to cheer the UK and Ireland on in a range of sports.
Commenting, Rob Bassett, Head of UK and EU Multinational Advertising at eBay, said: “Interest in the consumer electronics category, in particular, tends to surge ahead of any major sporting event. But this is just one example of the non-sports brands that stand to benefit from the summer of sport.
With well executed online advertising, brands can capitalise on the “halo effect” created by the various tournaments, allowing them to put their products in front of the right consumers with messages tailored to their unique mix of interests”
The insights also reveal that brands with a strong presence on mobile stand to capture the biggest share of the consumer wallet this summer. During the last World Cup, there was a cohort of ‘football widows’ who turned to shopping mid-match, with women 53% more likely than men to be shopping on mobile than desktop during England’s third and final match, up 39% from the two hours before the game. With 54% of eBay transactions now ‘touched’ by mobile, eBay Advertising expects to see a repeat performance this year.
Football fans also present a lucrative audience for brands to tap into, particularly once a tournament has begun – a huge 92,000 searches were made for ‘football’ on eBay.co.uk in the first week of the last World Cup, equating to almost ten searches per minute. And the England team’s first appearance on the pitch on 14th June sent shoppers scrambling to show their support, with fans making over four searches per minute for ‘football shirt’ over the course of the day.
Bassett continued: “We know that sports fans behave differently at this time of year to those who are less drawn in by the sports extravaganza – but both groups are equally lucrative.
Our shopper behaviour data enables brands to distinguish who is and isn’t a football fan, and target them accordingly.”
Graphic by Shutterstock