Grocers race to convert sales as Rugby World Cup kicks off

Supermarket giants are hoping to reap the rewards of the six-week long tournament and are banking on England progressing to the latter stages of the tournament to keep sales on an upward trajectory.

Tesco is expecting to sell more than 150 million bottles and cans of beer and cider during the World Cup as an expected 460,000 international supporters descend on the UK for the showpiece tournament.

The grocer forecasts shifting 80 million packets of crisps, nuts and snacks and 9 million pizzas during the next six weeks. It is also expects that 3.5 million curries, 3 million pies and 5 million dips will fly off the shelves as customers pick up quick and easy meals, allowing them to spend more time watching the action on TV.

Many Tesco stores have created rugby “power aisles” for ahead of tonight’s big kick-off featuring food, drink and clothing for fans, including the pictured aisle at its Twickenham Extra store – a stone’s throw from England’s opening game against Fiji.

Family gatherings

Tesco beer category spokeswoman Natasha Pitman said: “The party is set to start on Friday and for millions of rugby fans over the next six weeks it will all be about friends and family gathering together to watch the games.

“We know from previous tournaments that on days when home nations play demand for beer, pizzas, and other snacks rockets and continues to rise with each successive round.”

Grocery rival Waitrose said alcohol sales have already soared ahead of England’s curtain-raiser tonight and it believes momentum will continue as the tournament progresses.

The upmarket grocer has doubled orders of curry to cope with anticipated demand and expects pizza sales to more than double next week.  

Waitrose buying manager for beer Norman Freeman said: “We are expecting very strong sales of beer over the next few weeks, as rugby fans get together to watch the World Cup.

“Sales during this week’s build up to the opening game are already up 40% across beer, lager, ale and cider. We predict sales will rise by another 50% over the next few days, as the tournament really gets going.”

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said sales of rugby tops are already “double what we anticipated”. She added: “We always thought customers would get behind the Rugby World Cup, but it’s great to see people going above and beyond to show their support.”

Tournament footfall

The Rugby World Cup has grown to become the third largest sporting tournament in the world and, as the host nation, the UK is set to benefit to the tune of around £2.2bn.

Retailers will be hoping to gobble up their fair share of that pie, but Experian footfall data suggests that retail activity fell between 2% and 8% on match days when host nation France played during the 2007 tournament.

The day after each France match also saw footfall drop, with France’s semi-final proving the only exception when footfall soared 59% the following day.

During both the 2007 and 2011 tournaments, English retail footfall dipped on match days on a similar scale to the slowdowns seen in France, but there were uplifts the day after matches. Footfall edged up 1% the day after England were eliminated from the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, for example.  

Scottish consumers are poised to react even more positively to the tournament, according to Experian. Footfall increased on days Scotland played in the 2007 tournament and the day after the country’s final match that year, shopper numbers jumped 7%.

Similar trends were recorded in Wales, although footfall was just 1% up following the country’s last match at the 2011 World Cup.