eCommerce in Sport

What are the key areas for eCommerce in Sport

Worldwide 100's of millions of people are involved in sport. Starting at an early age children join sports clubs and associations and remain loyal members, often for life. Nearly every Australian is in one way or another involved with or participates in a sport during their lifetime. They look for and buy merchandise, uniforms or sports equipment related to their club

Every sports association, federation, club or group has some need to sell to its members and supporters. This is often done to raise money to support the development and management of the club itself. Many times this is left to third parties or members to organise and as a result the opportunities are lost. But it can also result in the members themselves paying too much for the merchandise.

There are many products that can be sold online effectively:

• Official uniforms or apparel
• Sporting essentials like balls, goal posts, bats etc
• Membership to the club or association
• Tickets to venues, games and events
• Supporter’s merchandise
• Books and videos
• Photos and images from games and events

Although sport has embraced the internet and World Wide Web in many ways selling merchandise to club members has generally been only at the large commercial end of the market. Fundamentally the reason for this has been costs, resources and available skills.

New eCommerce technologies like ePages have changed that and now it is possible for any club or association to start and run an online store for less than $100 per month with minimal and maybe no upfront cost.

What can you expect as an estimate for your eCommerce technology?

The answer will vary from club to club but we have provided a simple estimate tool that can give you some idea of what to expect. When selling online you still have some traditional costs like:

• Cost of products 
• Cost of shipping (maybe covered by online buyer)
• Business taxes or fees
• Bank and credit card fees 
• Human Resources 
• Cost of traditional marketing

These traditional business costs will vary from club to club. You can contact us and we can provide the estimated cost for you to setup and run an online store for your club or association.

What are the benefits?

By tackling the eCommerce opportunity the club can sell more merchandise directly to members and supporters which may cut out the middle man. This can help increase revenue (funds) for the club or association. It also creates an opportunity to connect with members and supporters. The benefits to the club:

1. Increased revenue from merchandise sales
2. Reduce costs to members and supporters
3. Improve service levels
4. Improve member and supporter contact and loyalty

This is a quick overview of the subject of eCommerce and Sport. There are many possibilities and a great deal move that a club or association needs to think about before starting an online store. 

If you represent a club or association and are interested in learning more about the issues that surround starting an online store to sell merchandise, tickets, memberships or any product you can contact ecorner and ask for a free whitepaper about eCommerce and Sport.