With the growing global popularity of cricket, traders' interest in cricket-related products from SMEs (small and medium enterprises) has more than doubled in the past year, a study said.
Online searches from buyers all over the world for cricket-related products jumped by 130 per cent between February, 2010, and January 2011, said statistics compiled by Alibaba.com, the world's largest business-to-business e-commerce portal.
Indian suppliers received 49.6 per cent of enquiries from cricketing countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and Pakistan.
Around 12 per cent of the global enquiries came from prospective buyers in countries such as the US, China and Singapore, all traditionally non-cricket playing nations, the report said.
“The data that we have is extremely interesting and presents an attractive business opportunity for Indian SMEs engaged in production of cricketing gear. SMEs can now explore markets such as the US and China where the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been actively promoting cricket,” Mr Sandeep Deshpande, Alibaba's India country manager told PTI.
According to the search data, countries such as the UK, China, Pakistan and the US are the major competitors for Indian sellers of cricketing products.
“Searches from global buyers for cricket products manufactured by Indian SMEs has increased significantly during major international cricket tournaments,” the Alibaba official said.
Global buyer searches on Alibaba.com for cricket products from India grew by 46.1 per cent in August, 2010, a month before Indian franchises participated in the T20 Champions League.
Similarly, searches in January, 2011, saw 34 per cent growth prior to the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup, which began earlier last month.
Cricket products that buyers are looking for include cricket bats and balls, which account for a significant percentage of the buyer searches, followed by cricket bat stickers, jerseys and other cricket wear.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.