Cricket creating trading opportunities for Indian SMEs: Study

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 49.60 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 USA, 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 USA and China where the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been actively promoting cricket," Sandeep Deshpande, Alibaba's India country manager told PTI.

According to the search data, countries such as the United Kingdom, China, Pakistan and United States are the major competitors (rpt) 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.