The Indian Premier League (IPL) fever seems to have spread across borders, as more and more people from non-cricket playing nations like the US and Germany are buying merchandise of the franchise teams online.
Leading online market place eBay India, offering merchandise of several IPL teams is witnessing significant surge in demand for products like jerseys, T-shirts, shoes and caps.
“The online orders to purchase different products for IPL 2009 is attracting a number of people from many non-cricket crazy nations, including Finland, Germany, US and Spain,” eBay India Senior Manager (Pop Culture) Deepa Thomas said.
Nonetheless, the maximum number of buyers are from India, accounting for nearly 67 per cent of the total purchases.
Based on the sales, eBay India data shows that jerseys and team T-shirts are the most sought after items by the cricket fans.
eBay India has tied up with leading brands like Puma, Adidas and Reebok for offering the IPL merchandise.
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According to the firm's IPL sales barometer or the battle of fan — a measure of products sales — the merchandise related to Kings XI Punjab is the most popular among the buyers.
Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) come next on the list of popularity. The products are priced between Rs 399 and Rs 2,999.
Deepa Thomas said merchandise falling in the price range of Rs 399 to Rs 1,299 are in high demand and added that business volume is high.
Meanwhile, after cashing in on the popularity of IPL merchandise online, eBay India is planning to introduce telephonic order facility for booking for the merchandise.
“We will soon start the booking of IPL merchandise over phone also, so that those cricket fans who are till now not using internet medium can place their orders,” Deepa Thomas said.