The FIFA World Cup is set to become one of the biggest retail events of the year, with millions of British fans preparing to transform homes, gardens and pubs into football viewing hubs — creating a £4.5 billion spending opportunity for businesses.
Research suggests 78 per cent of UK adults, around 43 million people, are expected to watch the tournament, while 76 per cent plan to make World Cup-related purchases.
But for retailers, the challenge will not simply be capturing demand. It will ensure products are available when consumers want them.
The tournament will create a series of intense, time-critical shopping moments, with fans unlikely to delay purchases if stock runs out before a major match.
Food and drink are expected to drive much of the spending surge, with 43 per cent planning to buy snacks and food for watching games at home and 35 per cent preparing to stock up on alcohol.
The football occasion will also extend beyond match-day essentials, with consumers planning purchases ranging from replica shirts and outdoor cooking equipment to upgraded televisions.
The average expected spend is £136.25 per fan, rising among younger consumers and reaching £160.82 in London.
However, the research highlights a major risk for retailers: availability.
More than eight in ten fans say they would travel farther to find an item unavailable the day before a match, with some prepared to travel more than an hour.
For businesses, a missed sale could quickly become a lost customer.
The warning comes after 71 per cent of retailers said they had already experienced stock shortages or fulfilment problems during previous major tournaments.
The impact can be significant. Almost two-thirds of retailers believe stock failures during the World Cup could cost more than £100,000, with the average estimated loss standing at £116,836.
Martin Lockwood, senior director at Manhattan Associates, said major sporting events compress months of demand into a short period, meaning retailers need more than traditional forecasting.
“Retailers need to see what’s happening in real time, redirect stock quickly and adjust fulfilment before empty shelves turn into lost sales,” he said.
The companies best positioned to benefit are those preparing early. Nearly half of retailers begin planning supply chain operations more than six months before the tournament, while 87 per cent start at least three months ahead.
The evidence suggests preparation pays off. The sport, outdoor and leisure sector, which plans furthest ahead, experiences fewer stock issues than the wider retail market.
As the tournament approaches, the winners are unlikely to be those who simply anticipate demand — but those able to react quickly when millions of fans decide they need something before kick-off.
“The correlation is impossible to ignore: the sectors that plan earliest experience the fewest stock failures,” Lockwood continued.
Sport, outdoor and leisure retailers plan nearly six months ahead and, as a result, have roughly half the stock problems of the wider market.
“But planning alone isn’t enough. Demand during the World Cup moves fast, so retailers need a unified, real-time view of their entire operation – one that lets them see exactly what’s selling, reallocate stock and adjust fulfilment in the moment, all from a single source of truth. Forecasting gets you to the starting line; unified, real-time execution is what wins the game.”
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