Football fans are expected to go on a World Cup-fuelled TV buying binge this weekend before England’s first match of the 2018 tournament.
John Lewis said it sold 140% more big-screen TVs, 55in (140cm) or more, on Thursday, when Robbie Williams performed at the opening ceremony in Moscow, compared with the same day last year. The retailer expects that pace of growth to continue, or even rise, this weekend.
Advances in technology has led to ever larger screens. The best selling sizes this year are 55in and 70in, according to John Lewis. In 2010 the best sellers were 36in when South Africa hosted the World Cup.
Overall sales of TVs at John Lewis so far this year are double the same period in 2017, while 70in screen sales increased 150% last week.
“The World Cup definitely seems to be having a big effect on customers,” said Suddy Bhardwaj, TV buyer at the retailer.
He said the increase in demand was not just about football but about a change in viewing habits, and that a fall in the price of big screen TVs was making them more affordable to families who increasingly wanted a “cinema experience” at home. While it has traditionally been men who drove demand for large televisions, Bhardwaj suggested that was now changing.
“It feels like there’s a new market in the way people view TVs. Netflix and huge programmes like Game of Thrones coupled with services like Deliveroo and the ability to have restaurant-quality food at home means that people are bringing the cinema and dining experience home.”
Sales of TV soundbars were doing particularly well, while drinks fridges were up by a fifth and corner sofas by 220%.
Argos said its sales were up by more than a third this week, compared with the same time last year. It said sales of TVs with screens of 65 inches or more had nearly doubled in the last 12 months.
Market research firm GfK predicts that ultra-high definition and 4K technology TVs will massively outsell other sets in May and June.
“This year’s World Cup sees the most 4K-quality broadcasts than ever before, which is really driving customers to invest in 4K TVs as well as large screens,” said Nick Hill, consumer electronics trading manager at Argos.
The mini sales boom is a fillip for retailers who are struggling amid rising costs just as shoppers rein in spending on non-essentials partly because of inflation in food and fuel prices.
But they will be praying that England, who kick off their World Cup campaign on Monday, go beyond the group stages as an early exit could mean sales of 66,000 less TVs than hoped for, according to GfK.
While predicting 8.8% more TVs will be sold this year than last, GfK says the long-term trend indicates a steady decline in TV set purchases.
In 2010, 9.6m TVs were sold in the UK, falling to just 5m last year, according to the firm. And even with the World Cup boost this year only 5.5m TVs are expected to be sold compared with the 6.5m in 2014, the last World Cup year.