Challenge.

When Ajax launched its 2021/2022 third kit, inspired by Bob Marley and Three Little Birds, it became more than a shirt release. It became a global demand event.

The launch broke every commercial record the club had seen before. According to Ajax, the shirt sold at least four times more than any previous Ajax kit. Despite the club bringing in its biggest stock position ever, adult sizes sold out across the official webshop and physical fan stores within 24 hours. Demand came not just from Amsterdam, but from around the world: from supporters, collectors, and music fans alike.
That kind of moment puts pressure on every part of retail operations at once. Ecommerce traffic spikes. Stores fill up. Stock moves fast. Customer expectations rise instantly. For Ajax, EVA provided the commerce foundation behind both the physical stores and its headless ecommerce setup, making it possible to manage one of the most high-profile product launches in the club's history across channels.

Built for launch moments that do not stay in one channel

This was not a normal campaign. Digital queues ran into the tens of thousands on launch day, while physical lines formed outside the Arena and Kalverstraat stores. The release moved at the speed of hype, and the commerce operation had to keep up in real time.

With EVA powering both retail stores and headless ecommerce, Ajax could operate the launch from one connected commerce backbone. That matters when demand hits everywhere at once. Store and online sales are not separate events. They are one commercial moment, and they need to run on infrastructure that can handle scale, speed, and constant stock pressure without fragmentation.

From product drop to gobal commerce event

The launch gained even more momentum when UEFA ruled that Ajax could not wear the original version of the shirt in European matches because the three birds on the back were not considered an approved club or sponsor mark. That decision created another wave of media attention and made the original version even more desirable as a collector's item.

For Ajax, this was not just a brand success. It was an operational stress test. One product. Massive traffic. Rapid sell-through. Global attention. EVA helped support that moment with a setup built for modern retail: unified across channels, responsive under pressure, and flexible enough to support a brand-led launch at exceptional scale.

The result

The Bob Marley shirt became the most successful commercial product in Ajax history. But the real story is not just that demand was huge. It is that Ajax was able to launch through both stores and headless ecommerce as one connected retail operation.

That is what EVA is built for.