Anyone who lives a long way from Munich can still feel close to FC Bayern thanks to merchandise products. Fans of FC Bayern in over 200 countries are directly supplied from Munich. How does e-commerce work? And who does the club reach with it?
E-commerce – how Bayern reaches its fans globally
When the bell rings at the door of Hayden Li in New Zealand on 5 September, it sets the 20-year-old’s heart racing. “Whenever a parcel from FC Bayern comes for me, my pulse increases,” he says. Li collects Bayern jerseys and recently ordered a home shirt with Thomas Müller on the back. Müller has been his favourite player since he became a Bayern fan three years ago. “Thomas is just fantastic, on and off the pitch. And his squad number immediately caught my eye – I was born on a 25th,” explains Li. He didn’t just take an interest in Müller but the whole club. “And the ‘Mia san mia’ immediately spoke to me, it’s a strong message. You have to stay true to yourself. Everyone is who they are.”
Li has found something in FC Bayern that also fascinates many others. It’s just that he doesn’t live in Munich, Landshut or Salzburg, but in Christchurch, 18,500 kilometres as the crow flies from Säbener Straße. The distance could hardly be greater. Yet Li only has to wait three days for his latest FCB delivery. He ordered it online from the FC Bayern Store on 2 September, it was prepared for dispatch on the same day at the large warehouse at Munich Airport, at 23:44 the parcel was already in Leipzig, 20 hours later in Singapore, another 19 hours later in Auckland and finally nine hours later at his house. “Pretty quick,” he says.
Delivery time is always a challenge in international e-commerce, including for Bayern. Until a year ago, global delivery took around a week. But since 15 October 2024, they’re using a new international e-commerce checkout in Munich. Now, customers outside Europe also receive their online orders from the record champions in record time. “No matter where it’s going, the parcel now arrives with customers in a matter of a few days,” says Peter Romics, director of global commerce at FC Bayern.
What’s more: previously, the only distant overseas markets that could be reached were in Asia and North America, and only through licence partners and with a very limited range. A lot of shirt printing, badges and member products weren’t available, for example. “We wanted to offer our fans in all continents the same access to our products and the same seamless service, so it was necessary to take international e-commerce into our own hands,” explains Romics. “Now we deliver around 80 percent of our range to over 200 countries and regions. The feedback from our customers across the world is thoroughly positive.” The switch has therefore paid off. “We’re very pleased. Currently we’re growing faster abroad than in Germany. The USA has become our strongest overseas market in the meantime, even ahead of Austria.”
One million parcels
One of the loyal customers in the USA is Erik Fegenbush. “I’ve got everything there is,” the engineer from Tallahassee, Florida tells. He’s just purchased a Bavarian jacket. “I love this jacket, especially now in the autumn.” Fegenbusch was active across the world for many years for the US military and was stationed near Stuttgart from 2005 – that’s when he became a Bayern fan. Franz Beckenbauer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Arjen Robben… He lists the Bayern players who he was particularly taken with. But above all, the mentality impressed him. “American teams don’t have that same absolute will to win,” he says. “FC Bayern is the epitome of German perfection around the world.” Fegenbusch still visits the Allianz Arena, and despite being 8,000 kilometres west of Munich, he feels a bit German himself. He embraces that identity with shirts and merchandise products from Bayern.
We want to bring the FC Bayern feeling to every continent.
Peter Romics, director global commerce
Bayern ships around a million parcels every year to the whole world, including through its ‘Global Store’, one of eight versions of the Online Store. Shirts, scarves, 125th anniversary items and t-shirts have been the most popular products since the introduction of the new system a year ago. The majority of the parcels go to the USA, Canada, South Korea, Japan and Mexico, but orders also come from more unusual countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Zambia, Kyrgyzstan and French Polynesia. This small sample alone demonstrates the spread that FC Bayern has to deal with in e-commerce. Different languages, currencies and in particular tariffs and local taxes create huge complexity. But with the support of a logistics partner that specialises in international e-commerce, it’s been possible to offer the Online Store in almost every country. Customers are shown the prices in their national currency, see what delivery costs, taxes and/or tariffs are added, and can check out using local payment methods in their language. “Optimising the fan experience was very important to us,” says Romics. Every customer should receive the best possible service.
Romics believes that the international development is far from over. There is always more to learn. For example, it is not enough to simply offer the regular product range in other markets. In Asia in particular, there is demand for local products. That’s why the club is developing its own merchandise with local partners in China, South Korea and, most recently, Thailand, such as mobile phone cases featuring FCB mascot ‘Berni’ and plush toys. “These are very popular there.” In China in particular, e-commerce is not only conducted via the classic online store, but also via livestreams on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok. Home shopping in the 21st century – and FC Bayern is right in the middle of it. Romics still sees a lot of growth potential, especially in the USA, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. “We’re only just getting started.”
One of the first international customers was Myeong tak Choi from Anyang, a large city near the South Korean capital of Seoul. “Oliver Kahn really impressed me at the 2002 World Cup,” he says. He was 11 years old at the time and became a fan of Kahn – and very quickly of Bayern too. “The club is my second home,” says the 34-year-old. He orders online several times a year, most recently the Oktoberfest kit. Over time, he has accumulated countless merchandise: jerseys, scarves, pennants, mugs, mini replicas of the Champions League trophy and the Allianz Arena... At home, he proudly displays everything in glass display cases. A small, private FC Bayern museum, 8,500 kilometres east of Munich. “It just makes me happy to have my house full of Bayern stuff,” he says. “My wife and friends often say that no one in Korea has more Bayern stuff than I do.”
Fans over profit
Having been a fan for so longo, Myeong tak Choi can testify how the international merchandising has evolved. “For a long time it wasn’t easy for us in South Korea,” he describes. “Ten years ago, it was almost impossible to get shirts and merchandise. Then there was the Asian store, although it had some problems, such as the delivery time and the very limited range. Nowadays the ordering process is very convenient and the delivery is very quick.” That’s something he appreciates: “It feels to me like I’m being rewarded for being a fan for so long.”
As director of global commerce, Romics of course looks at sales, costs and profit – but not just that. In case of doubt, the margin does not come first, he stresses: “We don’t just think commercially, but also see ourselves as a calling card of the club.” In other words: fans first. That’s also why delivery costs are sometimes subsidised in order to make fans in the further corners of the world happy. And in case there’s a problem with an order, anyone can make direct contact with FC Bayern to find a solution.
In e-commerce it’s clear how much Bayern has expanded beyond its geographical and cultural borders; how much the Munich club has become a home for fans from all over the world. There are currently over 20,000 club members, almost 400 fan clubs with over 30,000 members outside Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “We are a global brand. Most fans abroad never get to experience the atmosphere of the Allianz Arena live, though, which is where we come into play with our emotional products,” says Romics. “We want to bring the FC Bayern feeling to every continent. We carry our brand throughout the world.”
No matter how far away from Munich you live, the Online Store enables everyone to bring “their” FC Bayern home, to celebrate being a fan in their country – and to live a connection that knows no borders. “Bayern is a family in which people from Munich and the whole world area at home,” adds Hayden Li. He’s already thinking about his next order from New Zealand – another shirt, naturally.
This article is taken from the November edition of members’ magazine ‘51’.
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