It’s football season, and the online world is charged up. If e-commerce companies are running to keep pace with the demand for footballs and jerseys, others are creating apps for game lovers.

Every day, over 4,000 footballs and about 350 jerseys are being sold on ShopClues, an online marketplace. The German, Argentinian and Portugal jerseys are most popular, and orders are coming from places as far apart as Bengaluru, Kolkata, Siliguri, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, said Sanjay Sethi, Co-Founder, ShopClues, Indian subsidiary of the US-based Clues Network.

Apart from hardcore football cities such as Kolkata, Darjeeling, Siliguri, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, purchases are happening from places such as Madurai, Rajkot, Bhopal, Pune and Ahmednagar, he told BusinessLine .

The most popular

And, it’s no surprise that Argentina’s Messi, Brazil’s Neymar and Portugal’s Ronaldo are the favourites when it comes to jerseys. At Amazon.in, Argentina — which has exited the World Cup — is the most popular country in terms of jerseys ordered followed by Germany and Brazil. Apart from the top metros, customers across smaller towns in West Bengal, Goa and Kerala have been shopping through a special store that has a curated selection covering categories such as sports, jerseys, and collectibles, said company sources.

It’s not just buy-orders for Amazon. It is also reporting a lot of activity for its virtual personal assistant, Alexa, with users seeking updates on the World Cup. Alexa has been fielding such questions as When was the last time France won the World Cup? Which country has won the most number of World Cups? Or, Who is the top scorer for Brazil? Alexa also gives up-to-the-minute updates on matches.

Predict and win

To make the World Cup more engaging, an app — Eros Now Betz — has been created by Eros Now, a video OTT (over-the-top) platform, in association with Dab Gaming Ltd. The app allows users to earn points for every correct prediction they make as matches are being played.

Users earn points for each correct prediction. Users can redeem these points for a month-long free access to Eros Now’s library of over 10,000 films, music videos and originals, said Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital.

The company’s recent association with an Indian Premier League (IPL) team RCB provided interesting data on how to leverage topical sporting events and the launch of the Eros Now Betz app extends this to the world of Football.

“The thrilling and action-packed World Cup just got more exciting for audiences who can now participate real time,” he said.

While so much is happening around the World Cup, in Chennai, cricket rules supreme. At sports shops, IPL jerseys are still the big sellers, especially the yellow coloured Chennai Super Kings’ outfit.

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