While the New York Giants football team readies itself for its inaugural season at the New Meadowlands  Stadium in New Jersey, the team’s front office is whipping its e-commerce business into shape.

The team and its new e-commerce technology provider TeamFanShop Inc. relaunched the team’s official online store, Shop.Giants.com, last week. 

The Giants management selected TeamFanShop, based in Jacksonville, FL,  after vetting three other sports e-commerce providers for the business, says Giants chief marketing officer Mike Stevens. He says he did not know about the company until a few months ago because the vendor largely focuses on supporting college and university sports sites.

 

The Giants provide marketing support by advertising and linking to the online store from the team’s home page, Giants.com. TeamFanShop handles all e-commerce functions.

Stevens says the firm’s reputation for customer service was important to the team’s decision. When Stevens checked references, he found there were few, if any, complaints on that score from other TeamFanShop clients.

“When you outsource, the customer doesn’t really see it that way. To them, it’s the Giants shop and they are just as likely to call the team when there is a problem as often as they would a number on a web site,” Stevens says.

Fans visiting Shop.Giants.com today will find about 1,200 products for sale. Brian Swallow, vice president of sales and marketing at TeamFanShop, says the firm will add another 300 products by the start of the season, which will triple the selection offered by the Giants’ last year when the football franchise worked with another e-commerce provider.   New products include merchandise commemorating the team’s first season at the new stadium.

Product listings now include up to 12 close-up photographs of each item, Swallow says. “It has a much cleaner look and better usability. It will result in higher conversion rates and placement in recommendation engines,” Swallow says.

Swallow declined to disclose the revenue share between the team and TeamFanShop.

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