At the website of sporting-goods retailer Modell’s, most World Cup merchandise is sold at full price. One notable exception: U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan’s T-shirts.
For retailers like Modell’s, which relies on major events like the World Cup to amp up sales, deciding which gear to stock is also a big game. Picking the right teams’ or players’ merchandise can be like hitting a jackpot: You avoid having to discount a bunch of duds and you have ample supplies of the hottest-selling items.
With that in mind, Modell’s, which expects a 40% jump in World Cup-related sales over the 2010 Cup, studied not only the previous games, but also who was favored to win according to Las Vegas oddsmakers nine months ago, when it had to place its orders.
“You place bets on all those teams,” said CEO Mitchell Modell in an interview. “You win and die by the sword. You are gonna feel who the biggest team is. It’s the best guess. It’s very hard to predict. If there’s a player like Donovan who doesn’t go to the U.S. team, unfortunately (his merchandise) has to be on sale.”
Just as Donovan’s shirts landed on the discount rack, a strong performance this time around by the U.S. soccer team might also present a dilemma. Modell acknowledged the chain could run out of U.S.-branded merchandise if the team continues to win.
“As teams advance, more people are out there buying jerseys and shirts,” he said.
This article originally appeared on MarketWatch.com.