Kitchen appliance company says World Cup refund strategy will not harm business

On July 4, Chinese kitchen appliance maker Vatti announced that its marketing strategy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup has substantially improved its terminal retail business and created better brand awareness, ThePaper reported.

Vatti is a sponsor of France's national football team, currently competing in the World Cup. In June, the company announced that if France win the competition, all customers will receive a full refund if they purchased a specific set of "champion products" from June 1 to July 3.

The company announcement stated that this expenditure is included in the company's annual budget and is a controllable company cost, so it won’t have a major impact on Vatti’s sales system or its annual profits.

The announcement came after some people doubted whether Vatti is prepared for the possible refund and therefore economic loss if the French team does indeed go on to win the World Cup.

The company has estimated that it will see sales amounting to around 700 million yuan during the competition, an increase of almost 20 percent since 2017; while the total refund cost would only be about 79 million yuan including sales made both on and offline.