It has been reported that economists are still in dispute as to whether the Olympics have been good or bad for retail.

When London held the 2012 games the UK’s economy saw a big impact, with billions of pounds worth of investment in infrastructure and tourism and the BBC reported that £9.9 billion was put into our economy, even though it cost £8.9 billion to host it.

However, studies have shown that the Olympics can have a positive influence on the economy if you’re not hosting it.

Summit, a data insight specialist, has revealed that online searches for Brazilian products has gone through the roof with people searching for “Brazilian food” which is 300% higher than average, “Brazilian cocktail” 450% higher and “Brazilian drink” up 250%.

Martin Corcoran, Summit’s head of insight, said: “Interestingly, the London 2012 Olympics had an instant impact of circa plus-10 per cent on the UK sports market during the event. Much of the growth from London occurred in the first week of the games which saw sales/demand 10 per cent higher than any other week in July – August."

Martin continued: “The weather will have a significant impact on customer behaviour and market sales of sports goods.

“We know weather triggers customer behaviour and this will change year on year. Sports retailers need to have great customer campaigns primed and ready for when the summer sun comes out so they can maximise the increase in demand for outdoor sports products.

“Viewing figures will be down compared to 2012. 2016 was the first year for the extended Euro 2016 football tournament and many of the Rio events are on during the night, which is likely to have affected the impact of the event.

“It’s worth bearing in mind the negative coverage of the Olympics, and considering if this has also had an impact on conversion to sales.”