Football fans are expected to spend £3.8 billion during this summer’s FIFA World Cup held in America, which is crearing busy weeks for retailers, pubs and restaurants – even in the UK. Research from VoucherCodes predicts that 26.4 million people will make purchases relating to the tournament.
VoucherCodes expects £2.9 billion to be spent in retail during the competition. Hospitality venues are also expected to receive an extra £898 million in spending. Food and drink will account for a large part of that total. Industry forecasts expect fans to spend around £536 million on drinks and another £361 million on food in pubs, bars and hospitality venues. Retail spending on food and drink for people watching at home is expected to pass £1.9 billion.
That amount of spending gives small businesses a chance to welcome extra customers and sell more products. Match days often bring people together for food, drinks and celebrations, creating busy trading periods for businesses that prepare well.
What Happened When England Played Croatia?
Transaction data from Clover, the payments and business management platform operated by Fiserv, showed what happened when England opened their World Cup campaign with a 4 to 2 victory over Croatia.
Pubs and bars in England recorded a 91% rise in transaction volume and total spending came up 70%. Off licences also enjoyed a 52% increase in transaction volumes, compared to a normal week, as many fans bought drinks and snacks for watching at home.
The spending behaviours actually began long before kick off because pub transaction volumes came up 57% during the build up to the match. Supermarkets recorded a 13% increase in transaction volumes and restaurants shot up 15% as people bought food before the evening game.
Business became even busier once the match started as pub transactions went up 148% during the first half before reaching a peak of 230% in the second half. Spending continued after the final whistle, with hospitality transaction volumes staying 190% higher than usual as supporters celebrated England’s win.
What Can Small Businesses Learn From Those Spending Habits?
The Clover data also showed that customers spent differently on match day. People bought items more often in pubs, although individual purchases were smaller. Restaurants also enjoyed higher sales volumes, although customers spent less on each purchase as many chose snacks and lighter meals instead of full dinners.
Paul Adams, SVP, Head of Merchant Product and Commercialisation, EMEA at Fiserv, said, “England’s opening day win may raise expectations that ‘It’s Coming Home’ but as far as pubs and bars are concerned, English fans are very much ‘Going Out’ when the World Cup is on.
“Our data shows the significant benefit to the hospitality sector that the World Cup can bring, with sales almost trebling during England’s match against Croatia. This isn’t just a shift from other parts of the day, it’s a real, noticeable boost to hospitality spending, with spending across the entire day almost double that of a normal Wednesday.”
Adams also said, “The draw has been kind to English pub owners and landlords, with the games falling at prime time for watching with friends in the pub. As England continue their campaign tonight, it will be interesting to see if payments terminals are as busy as they were during the opening match.”
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How Can Small Businesses Make The Most Of The Tournament?
Claudiu Pop, PR Marketing and Communications Specialist at CoworkingCafe, believes businesses should make the World Cup part of the customer experience.
He said, “It’s all about jumping on the trend. In football mad nations like the UK, it’s only natural for the FIFA World Cup to spike sales of merchandise, beer and everything else tied to the tournament. It’s a huge event too – “a UKG survey of 8,000 workers across eight countries found that one-third of them expect to take at least one day off due to the World Cup, with one-quarter planning to miss part of a workday regardless,” as we highlighted in our latest study on the World Cup.”
Pop added, “What small businesses should do to capitalise on events like this is think about their target audience and how they can bring a World Cup element into their offering. For example, a local pub could host watch parties and invest in a high-end screen (or several) to take the viewing experience to the next level.
“That same pub could also organise a table football tournament, so customers can get in on the competitive spirit themselves. Moving on from pubs, a barbershop could put together a lookbook of the styles worn by popular players in the current edition – think Harry Kane or Mbappé.
“A cake shop could bake World Cup-inspired treats, such as cupcakes iced in the colours of the home nations or a centrepiece cake shaped like a football pitch for match-day orders. A local coworking space could install big screens and host after-work watch parties too. It also helps for small businesses to think about what sits behind the interest in a major event – in this case, the FIFA World Cup.
“It’s about connection, ambition, national pride and a celebration of diversity, among other things. The question to ask is: how can we bring that to our customers? Finally, small businesses should make sure to advertise their efforts on social media, where an event like this generates massive engagement.”
Matt Rouif, CEO and co-founder of Photoroom, also commented, saying, “Major sporting events create a short window where attention, emotion and spending all move in the same direction. For small businesses, the opportunity is not only to sell themed products, but to make their existing products feel relevant to the moment.
“The businesses that benefit most are usually the ones that move quickly. A match result, national team moment or fan trend can change the conversation overnight, so small businesses should think about how they can turn those moments into product visuals, short-form video, social content and marketplace listings while interest is still live.
“AI is making this much more accessible because sellers no longer need a full studio, model shoot or agency budget to create campaign-style assets. A small fashion seller or independent seller can now take an existing product image and adapt it quickly for a specific theme, audience or social trend.
“At Photoroom, we’ve built exactly for this. Our Video Generator and Virtual Model tools let a seller turn a product photo into a national team-style campaign video in minutes.”
