How ‘tenniscore’ trend and Zendaya served up retail sales boost for Wimbledon
New balls please – and caps, quarter-zip training tops, towels and skorts – as Wimbledon enjoys a huge sales lift from ‘tenniscore’ fashion trend and Iga Swiatek’s continued success.
The green and purple colour scheme; that iconic logo featuring two tennis rackets crossed at the handle – Wimbledon’s branding reflects the classy air at the sport’s most prestigious tournament and shoppers, it seems, can’t get enough of it.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club is enjoying booming sales of its merchandise, with volume up 54 per cent year-on-year – and that’s before the first ball has been hit in anger today, when tournament fortnight is set to get underway in south-west London.
Those numbers are being attributed to an expanded range of clothing and apparel, which has capitalised on one of this summer’s hottest trends: tenniscore, fuelled by celebrity fashion and Zendaya-starring movie Challengers.
“Appetite for our collections has never been stronger,” Daniel Ashmore, Head of Retail, Merchandise and Licensing at the AELTC told City PM
“We’re seeing product launches sell out faster than ever before and the global interest in sport-luxe clothing isn’t going away. Wimbledon’s collections fill this space with an authenticity that only a heritage like ours can bring.
“When we consider the quality of our collections, we’re guided by the quality of our Championships. Our guests expect excellence in everything we do and within The Wimbledon Collection, that means precision in every stitch.”
While souvenir tennis balls and those distinctive green and purple towels seen wicking the sweat of top men’s and women’s players on Centre Court and beyond remain in high demand, it is baseball caps that have proven most popular.
The top-selling item so far in 2024 is the Wimbledon Wordmark Cap in green – a simple design with the tournament name arched across the front in a font reminiscent of the Hollywood sign – which sold out last year but is back in stock.
In the last month there has been a greater emphasis on tenniscore staples, with T-shirts, training tops and skorts all in the top 10 bestselling list since the beginning of June. The most popular of those is a men’s quarter-zip which retails at £75.
Yet the four most wanted items in Wimbledon’s physical and online stores in June are all caps. Among them is a limited edition navy design – essentially a premium version of standard navy caps emblazoned with the logo – which has a run of just 2024 units and costs £45.
The top market for Wimbledon retail sales remains Great Britain, as might be expected for an occasion that attracts patriotic sports fans and the highest concentration of Union Jacks outside of the Last Night of the Proms.
But merchandise is also extremely popular in North America. The United States is the second biggest market for sales, which have increased 79 per cent in 2024. Canada is the fourth biggest and has seen sales volume more than double year on year.
The most notable growth has come from Poland. Presumably inspired by Iga Swiatek’s ascent to the top of the women’s game, sales are up 179 per cent on last year. Volume from Italy, enjoying a tennis boom of its own, is up 59 per cent.
The tills are expected to ring faster and louder over the next two weeks, as visitors flock to SW19 and seek a memento of their visit that lasts longer than a glass of Pimms and a punnet of strawberries and cream.
One thing they won’t be able to buy on-site, however, are jigsaws. Just Stop Oil protestors tossed puzzle pieces over the lawns last year and Wimbledon chiefs have decided to keep them back for online sales only.