Manufacturers, vendors score big with products aimed at World Cup fans

One week before the opening of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, consumption opportunities related to the event are burgeoning in China, with skyrocketing sales of crayfish, a popular midnight snack, and men’s facial masks.

Driven by the upcoming event, 60 million crayfish, 2 million facial masks for men and nearly 30,000 high-definition projectors were sold on Alibaba’s Tmall platform in the past six days, data from Alibaba showed on Thursday.

During the period, the number of searches for “World Cup” on Alibaba’s Taobao soared 148 percent, according to a statement Alibaba sent to the Global Times on Thursday.

Hot commodities included football suits, shoes and even referees’ whistles, it said.

At the upstream, the event is generating revenue for the Chinese companies that make these products.

Hangzhou Donghao Flag Co told the Global Times on Thursday that the company has made more than 400,000 flags for the event, with prices ranging from less than 1 yuan (16 cents) to 6 yuan.

“We received the order in October 2017. With only about 20 workers, we geared up and finished the order in time. The flags have been shipped to Russia,” the company’s legal person surnamed Hu said.

“Thanks to the event, our production volume grew about 30 percent this year year-on-year,” he said, noting that he is only one of the many Chinese firms making flags and related products such as mascots for the event.