Adidas' large-format Indian retail expansion

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 21, 2018

Following India's decision to allow Adidas to have fully-owned retail stores and a cash-and-carry wholesale business under one entity, the sportswear brand plans to open large format stores across the country.

The company’s Brand Activation Director in India, Amrith Gopinath, spoke about the next phase of expansion at the recent India Retail Forum and said: “We recently got the ‘own retail’ license from the Government of India. So, we are now in the process of opening our own retail stores directly to the consumer. But we are moving ahead cautiously. There is no blueprint of opening 100 stores in a year. We want to go slow.”

Adidas currently has around 450 retail outlets across India from which they will roll out what Gopinath calls a “calibrated expansion”.

Gopinath has also stated that it is no longer the number of stores a brand has that is the deciding factor in its success in India.

“Today, e-commerce represents a channel that is growing much faster than the brick-and-mortar business. So, it’s not about store count but about the extent of the consumer’s wallet share that a brand has within the sports industry in a country that matters.”

Adidas, which went omni-channel in India two years ago, has experienced promising results following this decision.

“Blending of all online and offline channels through an omni-channel approach is something we are very serious about,” asserted Gopinath.

Adidas now allows customers to order sizes and styles in store on a tablet that are not available at that location and have clothing and shoes delivered there. The brand calls this an “endless aisle” and purchases made in this way currently account for five to ten percent of in-store sales.