Liverpool are looking to accelerate their retail efforts around the world as the club looks to position itself to make the most of opportunities that are arising from the continuing boom of the Premier League across global markets.
For decades the Reds have touched all points across the globe and cultivated a passionate fan base across continents, but with the rise of e-commerce and the ability for the club to market to a customer base of millions, the retail strategy has become an increasingly important part of the business.
In Liverpool there are three standalone retail outlets; Anfield, Liverpool One and Williamson Square. A little further afield and a short trip down the M53 there has been a store in Chester for the past few years.
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In the UK and Ireland there are a further two stores, one in Belfast and one in Dublin, but globally the club now has a further nine, predominantly in South-East Asia with one in Dubai.
As the global fan base for the Reds has grown along with the Premier League’s brand, with the international broadcast rights market reflective of that given it is now worth more than domestic media rights, so too has Liverpool’s plans to make sure they are able to leverage their own strong position.
The club are targeting the opening of more retail outlets, either through standalone stores or ‘shop-in-shops’, with both the US and China on the agenda.
The US, which hosts the 2026 World Cup, is seen as a key area of growth for the Premier League and its individual clubs, with the interest in football starting to take off and gain eyeballs and attention. The broadcast deal in the US alone is now worth £2bn over the current cycle for the Premier League.
Mike Cox, senior vice-president of merchandising at Liverpool, told the ECHO: “There is a definite shift in the level of interest in the Premier League and the clubs, including Liverpool.
“I was speaking to one of our licensing partners not so long ago, 47Brand, who do a lot of the headwear for us, they were saying they have definitely seen that increase in interest which is having a positive effect for them.
“The US, we believe, is a key area of growth for us. It is one of the key areas of our e-commerce business, there are a number of other countries that figure quite highly but the US is significant for us from that perspective.
“We’re talking to a number of other potential partners with a view to increasing our presence. Whether that is the shop-in-shop programme that we have already got in parts of south-east Asia. The end goal is to have a standalone store or stores out there as well, as one or two other clubs have already got.”
Liverpool as a global brand has increased its presence in recent seasons as the club achieved success at a time where more and more markets globally were becoming actively engaged in the Premier League product.
With the club having managed to navigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shuttering of physical retail for long periods of time due to the enforcement of restrictions globally, Liverpool are now starting to map out their future retail plans post-pandemic.
But core to the planning of the retail strategy for the club worldwide is the need for whatever partnership they enter into, or wherever they choose to have a physical presence, that it satisfies and need and is something that will deliver commercially for the club in the longer term.
“The key thing for us is whatever relationship we form in whichever country, it is a two-way street,” said Cox.
“It has to be successful for us but also commercially viable for the partner. It is about building out that long-term strategy. With a background in international retail before I joined the club, you can see a number of people make short-term decisions that can be damaging in the longer term, so we are very conscious about making the right decisions for the club moving forward.
“In the next few months we should have some more news about what we are doing in the US. Then, in other territories, we are looking at increasing our presence. We are looking at doing that in Thailand, we opened a store in Kuala Lumpur last year and there is every likelihood that there will be another standalone store, perhaps by the end of this year.
“We are in discussions about how we expand in the Middle East and into some of the key fanbase countries in Africa.
“In the likes of Indonesia we are looking at opening up some stores with an existing partner, while in China there is a big fanbase and interest in the Premier League more generally. In the next few weeks we will be announcing the appointment of an online partner for that market which is really important for us from a retail growth perspective.”
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