eCommerce Partners of the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris

eCommerce Partners of the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris: Key Insights

• Economic Impact: The influx of international visitors and global attention from hosting the Olympics is expected to boost both the local and digital economies in France.

• Benefits for Partners: The 2024 Olympic Games offer significant opportunities for companies to gain global exposure, market penetration, and strengthened brand reputation.

• Key Partners of the Olympics: Major eCommerce partners of the Paris 2024 Olympics include Alibaba Group, LVMH, Carrefour, Samsung, and Decathlon, contributing to both the event and the French economy

• Economic Impact: Hosting the Olympics can generate significant revenue growth for the French eCommerce sector through increased sales, brand awareness, and improved infrastructure, but it also means managing increased demand and logistical challenges.

It seems like only yesterday that Lady Gaga was singing in French at the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games, while Gojira's version of "Ah! Ça ira!" divided the Internet community. France managed to leave a lasting impression with its performance. Did the partners do the same?

But who are the partners of this year's Olympics? And who hails from the eCommerce sector? Let's take one last look back, but this time through the eCommerce lens.

eCommerce and the Olympic Games 2024

Special events like the 2024 Olympic Games – one of the biggest sporting events this year – offer significant opportunities for companies, such as global exposure, market penetration and strengthened brand reputation. But there are two sides to the medal, as well as downsides, including significant costs, risks and logistical challenges.

For some time now, eCommerce players have been using such events to improve their business, with varying degrees of success. eCommerce companies have a certain advantage that non-eCommerce businesses can't offer, which makes them attractive to event organizers: Digital expertise and infrastructure.

Revenue Development of the Global eCommerce Market

Especially the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important online presence can be. At the same time, the pandemic led to a strong rise of the global eCommerce market – and the importance of eCommerce continues to grow.

• With the onset of the Corona pandemic, the global eCommerce industry surged. In particular, in 2020, the YoY growth increased by 30.8%, reaching an annual revenue of US$3.3 trillion.

• In 2021, global revenue climbed to US$3.9 trillion, an increase of 18.5%, before eCommerce revenue development reached a low of 2.3% YoY growth.

• But despite the end of the pandemic and thus the end of the eCommerce boom, the numbers continued to grow. Starting in 2024, ECDB expects a new upward trend, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2024-2028 of 8.5%.

Meanwhile, international events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, as well as the European Football Championships, the Tour de France and the Formula 1 Grand Prix – events that couldn't take place under pandemic conditions – are helping eCommerce development.

Top 5 Biggest eCommerce Partners of the Olympic Games 2024

The Olympic Games are financed by different budgets. According to ISPO, Paris 2024 has a budget of €4.4 billion (US$4.8 billion¹), of which €470 million (US$513 billion²) comes from TOP-sponsors. Other partners, mostly from France, have contributed €1.226 billion (US$1.339 billion³).

The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games have a total of 83 partners, including big names such as Airbnb, Coca-Cola and Intel. eCommerce has also made its mark, with more and more well-known eCommerce players appearing on the list of partners.

Using ECDB data, we have identified the largest eCommerce companies partnering with this year's Olympics. Spoiler alert: the leading tech company is an old acquaintance.

1. Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd.

By far the largest eCommerce partner of this year's Olympic Games is the Chinese Company Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd., which generated US$1.1 trillion in revenue in 2023 – roughly one-third of France's GDP in the same year. This makes Alibaba not only the largest partner, but also the world's leading eCommerce player in 2023, surpassing even U.S. giant Amazon.com, Inc.

In 2017, the company became a Worldwide Olympic Partner in the category Cloud Services and eCommerce for the next six Olympic Games, that is, until 2028. As such, Alibaba is supporting the sporting events with “its innovative cloud and eCommerce technologies.” Behind the success, there is also a lot of criticism regarding working conditions, data security, environmental pollution, corporate structures and especially its monopolistic practices. Nevertheless, Alibaba has never been stronger than it is today.

2. LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE

The second largest eCommerce player is LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, known for its luxury brands such as Christian Dior, Céline, and Bulgari. In 2023, LVMH achieved a total revenue of US$6.4 billion, representing less than 1% of Alibaba's revenue. The French luxury company was  in the news for buying the German company Birkenstock and entering the stock market with it. The start was rocky, but the stock did rise.

In addition to being a premium partner of the sporting events, investing US$163 million according to the New York Times, the company played a special role: Louis Vuitton designed the medal trays and torch trunks for the Olympic Games 2024.

3. Carrefour S.A.

Not far behind positions the French grocery specialist Carrefour S.A., which reached a revenue of US$5.9 billion in 2023. Along with its 5,000 brick-and-mortar stores, Carrefour has built a strong eCommerce presence and ranks 96th worldwide in terms of revenue.

The company is focusing on four pillars for the Olympics: One is a project to supply fresh produce and organic food to the Olympic and Paralympic Villages, while another is a branding project to promote a healthy lifestyle. Then there is a business project for the Olympic and Paralympic Villages and beyond, and lastly the commercial project with special collections and official products licensed by Paris 2024.

4. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

In fourth place is the Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., best known for its Galaxy products. Last year, the company recorded revenues of US$4.9 billion from its eCommerce activities.

Similar to Alibaba Group, Samsung is a Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category – and has been since the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games. Samsung claims it is focusing on technology to give visitors and athletes the best possible experience of the Games, including its pop-up store in central Paris.

Recently, criticism of the Korean company has become louder: In the middle of this year, employees in Seoul went on strike for better working conditions. According to CNN, it is “the largest labor action in the smartphone and chipmaking giant’s 55-year history”.

5. Decathlon S.A.

Last but not least, Decathlon S.A. completes the ranking of the top 5 eCommerce partners of the 2024 Olympic Games. The French sporting goods company achieved a turnover of US$3.8 billion in 2023. The company's goal is to offer high-performance sports products without premium prices.

For the first time in its history, the sporting goods company became an official partner of the Olympic Games. As a partner of the event, Decathlon designed and produced  the uniforms of the 45,000 volunteers ,among other things.

The Economical Role for France

Looking at the list of partners, it is easy to see that many of this year's Olympic partners are French companies, and this is no coincidence. As this year's host, France has an influence on who becomes a partner, to the benefit of the French economy as a whole.

By hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, France is gaining international attention; for four weeks, the whole world is looking at France. Fans from abroad boost the local economy, while viewers who cannot be there drive the economy digitally.

At the same time, this event requires infrastructural preparation, marketing, manpower and much more. All of this costs money – money that must be recouped during and after the event. 

eCommerce Revenue Development in France: New Growth Trend Has Begun

And the French eCommerce sector? Past developments have been driven by pandemic circumstances and the resulting eCommerce boom – let's take a closer look:

• When COVID-19 arrived in France, the market jumped from an annual revenue of US$52.5 billion in 2020 to US$70.9 billion in 2020, corresponding to a year-over-year growth rate of 35.1%. 2021 followed with a slower increase of 11.2%.

• The eCommerce boom ended in 2022, and annual revenue shrank by 17.2% to US$65.3 billion in the same year.

• After the dip, the annual growth rate began to increase again, although it was minimal at 1.4% in 2023.

• For the next four years, revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 4.6%, reaching US$83.9 billion by 2028.

The Olympics have the potential to drive significant revenue growth for the French eCommerce sector through increased sales, enhanced brand awareness, and improved infrastructure. Yet businesses must strategically manage the surge in demand, competition, and logistical challenges to sustain and build on this growth post-Olympics.

eCommerce Partners of the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris: Closing Thoughts

Partnerships with companies are important to finance such events, while the companies benefit from the international stage. For instance, the IOC estimates that top sponsors will earn US$3 billion from the Olympics – six times more than they invested in the Paris 2024 budget.

The Olympics have been formative, but the extent to which this will affect the French eCommerce market, and its partners will become clearer in the coming months and years. It is already clear that Paris has benefited from this sporting event alone through the cleaning of the Seine.

Sources: ECDB, secondary sources in the referenced articles.

¹, ², ³: exchange rate as of 07/08/2024.