As the World Cup gets to the quarter-final stage and soccer fans are fixed in front of TV sets, many business people, especially online stores selling to "soccer widows", are grabbing the golden opportunity.

"I have not been able to sleep very well recently because my husband has been watching the matches almost every night," said Liu Jing, a 28-year-old who is married to a die-hard soccer fan.

Liu said her husband hogs the TV and all she can do is use the computer at night.

"I feel lonely in front of the computer and online shopping has become my way to give full vent to my dissatisfaction with my husband," Liu said. "I have already spent several thousands of yuan online."

Liu said her online shopping during the World Cup started with a pair of earplugs, which she used to stop the noise from the TV and from her husband at night.

Other neglected partners simply have to get out of the home.

"It is a good time to go shopping with my friends," said Wu Xiaofan, a 25-year-old woman working in Beijing.

Wu said she can buy whatever she likes when her boyfriend is watching TV at home after refusing to go shopping with her.

In order to attract soccer widows, many shopping malls in Beijing, including Parkson, Shin Kong Place and the Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, are doing promotions and some shops are even giving 50 percent reductions. The shopping malls are seeing lots of female shoppers looking to escape the soccer in their homes.

"Our sales volume has been very satisfactory since the World Cup started and consumers in the evening recently have been mainly female," said Song Yanzhi, spokesman with the Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park in Chaoyang district.

Song said sales volume had increased by three percent compared to the same period last year and buyers had been focusing on clothes, shoes and cosmetics.

But not all women are trying to block out the beautiful game with retail therapy and many are as excited by the competition as their husbands and boyfriends.

"I want to experience his world and this is an opportunity for both of us to share each other's hobby," said Miya Chen, a 26-year-old woman who works in a PR company in Beijing.

Chen said she has been enjoying drinking beer with her partner and supporting teams together. She was not a soccer fan before the World Cup, but after the first 10 days, says she really loves the game.