Football Season to Boost Online Retail in MENA to USD 8.4 billion

Joanne Chehab

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 16 November 2022: A report created by Redseer in partnership with TikTok found that the upcoming football tournament in the region will provide a boost to the festive retail season, with a predicted peak gross merchandise value of USD 8.4 billion for online retail, compared to USD 6.5 billion in 2021. When including offline sales, the overlap of the football season with Black Friday will present a massive USD 70 billion opportunity for the retail sector in MENA.

The report found that digital media will take the lead in enabling the opportunity with e-commerce, as product discovery is dominated by digital channels. Online searches (69%) were found to be the top channel that respondents plan to use to search for new products during the football season, followed by social media (64%), online customer reviews (63%), and brand/retailer apps (55%).

Joanne Chehab, Head of Business Partnerships for Managed Services, Global Business Solutions, MENA – TikTok said: “The upcoming football season is an unparalleled opportunity for brands to tap into a huge, passionate, and highly engaged audience. TikTok will be one of the major channels through which this audience will engage with content; in 2021, there were 129 billion views for the #football hashtag globally on the platform. Prioritizing creativity to build brand-event adjacency, TikTok is the place to be for brands who want to seize the football moment and meet/engage their audience with authentic and impactful stories.”

Seventy-two percent of respondents said they use social media to discover content related to their favorite sport, with 70% saying they expect to consume more short form video content during the football season.

Akshay Jayaprakasan, Associate Partner, Redseer Middle East said: “The current digital era promises to make this football tournament the most inclusive one, helping it reach people from all walks of life. 93% viewers will watch the world cup with their friends and family, highlighting the theme of togetherness that will run through this period of celebration. Digital media has democratized advertising, ensuring that even smaller brands can find a suitable offering to meet specific needs at a reasonable price. With 83% of football fans, using their smartphone while watching matches, innovative storytelling, leveraging the right formats, will help brands create everlasting brand recall.

The report also found that digital ad spend has overtaken traditional ad spend, indicating that brands and retailers should double their focus on digital media during this period to maximize value creation for themselves and their target consumers.

Additionally, Creators will have a substantial role to play in driving home meaningful stories for brands. In fact, 80% of respondents said they are influenced by digital media Content Creators to follow football season updates.

Aside from retail, the report found that the football tournament will bring a USD 4 billion opportunity through tourist spend, with 51% being attributed to accommodation. Furthermore, the tourist mix will see a higher representation from women and people under 45 than previous tournaments.