Tips for retailers

Make 2010 work for you

Aug/ Sept 2009

There are less than 300 days before the Kick-Off to the 2010 World Cup — and the chance to reap some of the many benefits South Africans have been promised when we were awarded the hosting.

And there are many ways one CAN benefit without breaking the special event law that protects the exclusive marketing rights of FIFA’s licensees.

From discussions with sour-faced prejudiced international journalists before the opening of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, it will not only be the Local Organising Committee (LOC) that will be on trial when the international tourists arrive (and since so many have already bought tickets, they WILL arrive). They will come to judge all of us in SA — and many will be harsh in their already biased judgements.

But we have the chance to show them that they are wrong and that we offer much. For example:

» We have a retail industry that can compete with the best of the world — and is probably more vibrant than many others in the rest of the world. With every international visitor walking into your store, you could be an ambassador for your country. The pleasant retail experience he’ll have, may just encourage him or her to return for a future visit;
» Apart from offering memorable service, your staff could try and familiarise themselves with the countries that will be represented here, so that they will be able to add a relevant comment once they find out where the customer comes from — especially of the matches played or teams hosted in your area. At least tell your staff where the big World Cup stars hail from!
» Greet customers appropriately — the volunteers working at the Confederations Cup were extremely friendly, but the one greeting visitors with a kiss would not have endeared himself to the reserved European visitors.
» Show your support for the World Cup — apart from supporters’ shirts of the qualifying teams, there is a long, long list of all kinds of 2010 merchandise available that could serve as impulse purchases for tourists.
» Show visitors what we in SA have on offer in terms of local manufactured goods — but also memorable sporting moments. Many of them will not be aware that we excel in other sports, even if our soccer is not on par.
» Make your staff aware of the benefits of the World Cup spin-offs for the country so that they could show a genuine enthusiasm when talking about the event: for one, all the development programmes around soccer will eventually bear fruit as participants in the game buy equipment. Think about the artificial surface fields built, the Football for Hope programme, our Sport Science Institutes getting world accreditation...