Topic of the week – The eCommerce Impact of Super Bowl Sunday
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, a single football game turned into a mass American holiday that draws in some of the highest viewership within the sporting industry and has become famous for the plethora of high budget ads across a range of brands. For some, they tune in not to watch the actual game, but specifically to watch the famous ads and halftime show. Super Bowl Sunday 2024 is set to provide competition not just between the Chiefs and the 49ers, but also a fierce battle between eCommerce brands both big and small, all fighting to win consumers over. So how does this single day impact the eCommerce and retail industry, what can brands and sellers expect and how can they leverage game day to their advantage?
It is no surprise that the biggest consumer spend is on food and beverages over the course of the day itself and the lead up to it as households prepare for all day parties stocked full of their favourite game day food, snacks and drinks. But there are other spending habits that make up the day as 13% of consumers plan to purchase team apparel, 9% plan on buying TVs, 8% purchase decorations and a further 6% who plan to buy furniture specifically for the Super Bowl in 2024 (according to the NRF). This year is set to see the highest total spending in Super Bowl history since a huge spike in 2020, so retailers and eCommerce sellers within these industries should be prepared for a spike in sales leading up to the big day.
Super Bowl Sales are also commonly seen both leading up to the game but also as post-game follow ups. Brands are aware of the effect the day has on sales and so to boost them, provide deals that are too good to miss. This is seen both in-store but especially now online as consumers shift to online purchases and eCommerce grows in this increasingly technological landscape. This year more than ever, the Super Bowl 2024 has become more of a social media frenzy than past years, partially due to the association between the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift. The possibility of a ‘Swifty Super Bowl’ sent social media wild, so leveraging the fact that many people will be using social media platforms is a great opportunity for social media shopping and ads. As more people will be on their mobile devices it seems only logical that they will be making some last minute or even bigger purchases using mobile shopping and as social media marketplaces continue to increase in popularity, brands would be silly to miss out on targeting this audience.
Finally, lets talk TV ads. This has become synonymous with the Super Bowl as it is estimated that over 200 million people in the US will tune in to watch the game says Forbes. In 2023, it cost an average $7 million USD to create and run a 30 second Super Bowl commercial. You may be thinking how can this be profitable. But with over 200 million watching and 19% of viewers watching specifically for the commercials according to the NRF, ad time is crucial and 30 seconds can be gold dust for some brands. Bringing awareness to your brand and its product range through this ad time can be extremely useful and brands should be prepared to fulfil an increase of orders throughout the game and especially at halftime.
In other news
After already rolling out their autonomous delivery robots in 80 worldwide locations, Starship Technologies has raised new funding in order to expand its fleet even further. The company has raised an additional $90 million and looks to expand its autonomous home delivery robots to more worldwide locations after launching and gaining popularity in the US, UK, Germany, Denmark, Estonia and Finland.
Customers in the Baltic States will now be able to utilise parcel lockers as Unisend install the first units in various cities across Lavia and Estonia. Over 40 parcel lockers have already been installed with a planned 300 in total coming to Latvia and Estonia taking the total Unisend network up to around 750 parcel locker units in the region.
eCommerce Market Stats
See some statistics relating to this week’s topics in the eCommerce market below.
Super Bowl Stats
- It is expected consumers will spend a total $17.3 billion USD over the Super Bowl period
- Those watching expect to spend $86.04 USD on average
- 112.2 million people plan to throw or attend a party for Super Bowl Sunday
- Total Super Bowl Spending has increased 25% since 2021
- 30 second Super Bowl ad spot prices increase roughly 10% each year
That’s all for this week…
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