Cricket buffs say hello to buy-buy

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Cricket mania has hit the country again. As the ICC World Twenty20 2012 begins today, cricket enthusiasts are all set to cheer their favourite contenders. Online shopping portals have registered a staggering surge in the sales of their sportswear and cricket merchandise. From branded sports equipments to team T-shirts, jerseys and T20 souvenirs, online shoppers are on a buying spree this season.

The Gurgaon-based website yebhi.com observed a 35 per cent increase in sportswear and merchandise sales as the buzz for the T20 championship grew louder, informs Manmohan Agarwal, CEO of the website. He says, “We saw a 35 per cent rise in the sales of our sportswear section and the most popular products among the buyers are sports shoes, track pants, sporty T-shirts and cricket gear. We are expecting more growth and the recent purchase data have already shown a 35-40 per cent spike in sales of sportswear brands like Puma, Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Wildcraft, Navyfont and more.”
To attract more online customers to purchase sport-related products, many shopping portals are also offering special coupons and attractive schemes. Aasheesh Mediratta, director sales at fashionandyou.com, reveals, “Our sales department has reported a rise in the sportswear category and to promote it further we have launched a scheme where the highest shopper will get a 16 GB iPad from our team.”
Paritosh Bindra, product sourcing head of snapdeal.com, adds, “Discount is something which keeps our customer inflow alive. We did a special promotion on cricket bats recently where we gave 20 per cent flat discount to the consumer and saw sales jump to 100 per cent that day. The World Twenty20 2012 has triggered a rise of 50 per cent in our sports category as compared to last month.”
This cricket season the websites are leaving no stone unturned to get more clicks. Arun Chandra Mohan, co-founder jabong.com, says, “There is a marked rise in demand of Indian cricket team jerseys, bats, guards and helmets. We have alerted our supplier base to get the right equipments and cricket-related products in coming days.”
Similarly, Aayushi Kishore, founder of globalitesport.com, informs, “We have a cricket coupon code and privileged discounts on sports-related products like footwear and sports apparel. This month we have also introduced special cricket shoes, cricket bats and kits with duffel bags and wristbands for the buyers. We are expecting a higher demand in coming weeks.”
To attract the women customers a few sites have also launched cricket-inspired apparel. Sunjay Guleria, co-founder of shersingh.com, says, “Our India polo tees with the national flag on the front and tri-colour collar is a hit with our coustmers. We have a bright collection inspired by the spirit of T20 for women. It has polo tees and the Nehru style tees for women who want to cheer for our cricket team.”