While the players on the pitch are playing to win the FIFA World Cup Trophy, there’s something else at stake for ecommerce brands during the World Cup. The multi-week event gives companies the chance to engage with passionate customers and tap into the massive event-led demand.

While the players on the pitch are playing to win the FIFA World Cup Trophy, there’s something else at stake for ecommerce brands during the World Cup. The 2026 edition runs from June 11 to July 19 across 16 host cities in the US, Mexico, and Canada, spanning 39 days of peak commercial activity. With more than 6.5 million visitors expected across host cities and billions of global viewers anticipated, retailers view the 2026 FIFA World Cup as one of the largest consumer merchandising opportunities of the decade.

However, operating an ecommerce business during the World Cup also brings several challenges in the form of high costs, competition, logistical issues, and other difficulties. Preparing for and successfully navigating these challenges is the key to getting the most out of the big event.

The World Cup is a Huge Opportunity for Ecommerce Brands

First, it often sees surging impulse purchases, as national pride, social celebration, and other drivers often lead to people making purchases without thinking as long or as hard as they would traditionally.

In a similar vein, price sensitivity is generally lower during events like the World Cup, as people want to get items quickly and not spend a ton of time comparing prices and doing research.

For example, if someone needs a jersey for a game, or things like a new TV, party supplies, or other items they want sooner rather than later for the World Cup, there’s a chance they’ll go with one of the first options they see for convenience’s sake.

There’s also plenty of different opportunities for sellers to capitalize on, from pre-match buzz and excitement to the euphoria and joy that often follow a big win. An event rarely has multiple weeks of near-continuous engagement for brands, which provides unique opportunities to run dynamic ads, adjust inventory throughout the event, and participate in plenty of retargeting.

Another benefit is that while the World Cup is all about football, it actually brings about massive cross-category demand during the weeks it runs. 

There are plenty of different opportunities for sellers to capitalize on, from pre-match buzz and excitement to the euphoria and joy that often follow a big win. Google search volume for World Cup-related terms increases by between 3,000% and 10,000% during the tournament period compared to baseline, providing unique opportunities to run dynamic ads, adjust inventory throughout the event, and participate in plenty of retargeting.

You also don’t need to pay expensive licensing fees to participate, as brands often use team or country-inspired colors and generic designs to create merchandise, packaging, and ads.

The Huge Potential Costs Associated With the World Cup

But while the commercial benefits of the World Cup are plentiful, so are the costs. Operating during these events, especially if you ramp up your efforts, doesn’t come cheaply. First, any sort of advertising on TV, social, and other channels is often sky-high during events like the World Cup, as a huge portion of the planet is locked in on their screens.

Any sort of advertising on TV, social, and other channels is often sky-high during events like the World Cup, as a huge portion of the planet is locked in on their screens. Internet Retailing projects a $10.5 billion surge in global ad spend during the event, with retailers capturing the lion’s share through programmatic, AI-driven placement.

Also, while the World Cup offers brands a chance to improve their market positioning with strategic sponsorships, these may also come with high costs. There’s also plenty of competition for sponsorships, and this can often price out many smaller or regional brands from participating. FIFA’s licensing-rights sales totaled $769 million during the 2022 World Cup cycle, up 28% from the previous edition, giving a sense of just how competitive and expensive the official sponsorship landscape has become.

Things like shipping and logistics costs may also be higher due to heavy traffic, restricted road access, if you’re located where the event is taking place, and surging demand.

Many companies may also need to bring on temporary workers to handle the higher demands of the event, which can be costly depending on how many people you need to bring on.

Challenges That Ecommerce Sellers Need to Prepare For and Deal With

Outside of high costs, there are also other World Cup-related challenges that brands need to prepare for and endure.

Logistical issues and Slowdowns

First, logistical issues and slowdowns are incredibly common during events as large as the World Cup. For example, with North American roads, airports, and highways currently being flooded with World Cup fans, on top of regular traffic, suppliers, and delivery vehicles, delivery delays are common.

Freight congestion is also often high during these times, and urban distribution capacity is frequently impacted as multiple companies are trying to get items in and out of the same city and/or distribution centers.

Also, because of the high competition for temporary workers across the supply chain to keep up with the boosted demand of the event, some companies may experience labor shortages, which can delay various parts of the fulfillment process.

Some ways for brands to help relieve this logistical pressure include temporary distribution facilities or micro-fulfillment centers, dynamic routing, and real-time monitoring.

Managing Supply and Demand

Another major challenge is trying to navigate and manage both supply and demand. You need to ensure you have enough products to satisfy heightened demand, but not too many that you’re left with tons of leftover inventory you can’t sell. Demand can fluctuate with little to no warning, so it’s important for brands to prioritize flexibility to handle these ebbs and flows.

This inventory management becomes even more important for this World Cup, as there are more teams and games than in past World Cups, which means more opportunities for demand to rise and fall based on match outcomes and other factors.

Companies that didn’t prepare ahead of time for these rapid demand shifts may struggle to handle them. However, even if you have a plan and forecast demand, reality can easily divert away from this plan, so it’s important to be able to roll with the punches and respond effectively.

A key to successfully managing your supply, demand, and inventory during volatile periods like the World Cup is having real-time inventory visibility and having dynamic replenishment in place to ensure you don’t miss out on sales due to certain things being out of stock.

Fragmented Viewing and Engagement

In the past, you could be fairly confident that most people would consume most of the World Cup-related content they see through the TV. But today, with everyone having multiple screens nearby, fragmented viewing is becoming more common.

As a result, companies can’t just focus their attention on TV anymore, as mobile devices and tablets are getting plenty of eyes.

While TV is still a major growth channel and is likely how most people will consume World Cup games, don’t discount the performance of social media for giving people updates who can’t watch the games, or platforms like YouTube for offering up post-game highlights for people to watch and share.

This fragmented viewing experience means companies often need to spread out their marketing and advertising efforts. Not only do they need to worry and think about where their target market is consuming World Cup content, but also how these preferences change throughout the day and the tournament itself.

Our Take

Take Advantage of the Opportunity, But Be Prepared

With the World Cup upon us, brands should be doing all they can to boost sales and capture their piece of the pie. The tournament is projected to generate $1.47 billion in economic activity for the US wholesale and retail sectors alone, and related merchandise revenue is predicted to hit $4.1 billion globally. However, if sellers go into the event without properly preparing or being aware of the challenges, it could end in disaster.

You need to be flexible as demand and supply shift rapidly, ensure your logistics and supply chain are ready, and be aware of the costs if you’re considering running ads or sponsorships.

Companies that can manage the volatility and uncertainty of the event may often experience the best results, so solid execution, careful planning, and handling operational pressures well are more important than ever.