Tennis towels and plushies: what visitors are buying at Wimbledon this year?
After selling out online on day six of the tournament, the popular plush toy is not expected to be back in stock online until Wednesday.
A soft toy named Pip the Strawberry and Wimbledon’s classic purple and green towel are among the best-sellers so far at this year’s championships.
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Pip the Strawberry has sold out online at the same point in the tournament as it did last year, after Wimbledon fans scrambled to get their hands on the £24 soft toy.
After selling out online on day six of the tournament, the popular plush toy is not expected to be back in stock online until Wednesday.
Tennis ball plushie Bounce, new for this year, is selling just as well – with more than a thousand units bought online so far, head of retail Daniel Ashmore said.
Less easy to shift are the giant Pip the Strawberry plushies, which stand at just shy of a metre in height and cost £500 each.
Despite being promoted by ladies’ singles world no 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Wimbledon’s Instagram page, only three giant Pips have made it off the shelves.
Mr Ashmore said: “We haven’t got a bag big enough, so they’re not selling rapidly, and of course, this is a 10- or 12-hour commitment for many of our guests that come to the championships.
“So, if you’re going to buy quite a few purchases, you are going to have to carry them around with you.”
While he was quick to add that he did not want Wimbledon’s merchandise stores to be “filled with characters”, he did say there could be space for “one more” in the collection.
Often thrown into crowds or swiped by players, Wimbledon’s famous branded towels, made by luxury manufacturer Christy, have been a staple of the championships for decades.
While the classic purple and green design is currently the best-selling product on-site at this year’s tournament, it is a new, strawberry-coloured design which is flying off the digital shelves of Wimbledon’s online shop.
Mr Ashmore said the success of the strawberry towel came as a surprise to his team, which is now scrambling to make sure online stocks last to the end of the tournament.
Mr Ashmore said: “Red has become, within our collection, something of an unofficial fourth colour this year.
“We’ve got green, we’ve got purple, we’ve got white, we’ve got strawberry red, and online that is selling at about a rate of 1.2 to every green and purple towel.
“Not the same trend on-site… but online that’s doing phenomenally well, and it has surprised us.”
He added: “I’d say if you want to buy a towel online, and it’s a strawberry towel, get it now.”
Branded baseball caps were the best-selling item at last year’s championships – the hottest on record – and the products are continuing to sell well this year, with temperatures expected to surpass 30C in Wimbledon’s second week.
“Funnily enough, we’re not doing as well as our buyer would like on umbrellas this year, and we didn’t do so well on umbrellas last year,” Mr Ashmore joked.
With global shipping under pressure due to tensions in the middle east, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Mr Ashmore said Wimbledon had some challenges to overcome to make sure stock arrived in time for the championships.
He said: “We’re a cautious business, as you might expect.
“Our selling season is so short that if we’re quoted x number of weeks shipping time, we always add it into our critical path, because we’re aware that if you miss your delivery date by two weeks, you miss your customer as well.
“So, we have had challenges, but we’ve been very fortunate in how we plan.
“We have had very few occasions that I can recall where we’ve had to fly something.
“Ordinarily, we like to ship by ship for sustainability reasons but also cost reasons as well.
“We add a bit fat to the calendar to try and avoid exactly those scenarios.”