Puma to open ten stores in India by year-end

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Nov 12, 2020

Sportswear brand Puma plans to open around 10 brick-and-mortar stores in India in the coming 45 days as well as a number of shop-in-shops. The business has seen interest in sportswear rise in India.

 
“Pop-up stores will be an ongoing exercise as it is helping us build relationships with customers even after the pop-up leaves the society,” Puma’s India and Southeast Asia managing director, Abhishek Ganguly, told ET Bureau in an interview.

“In the next 45 days, we are opening about 10 offline stores. Several shop-in-shops with regional retail partners in Tier 2 and 3 cities are planned as well.”

Puma has seen its average transaction value and average basket size grow year-on-year, as staying home has given some families more funds to spend on clothing in lieu of other luxuries in 2020. 

“As work-from-home remains critical, consumers are inadvertently getting used to athlesiure wear such as track pants, t-shirts, sneakers, shorts and flip flops over formals. Our recovery has thus been much faster and noted the same across markets,” said Ganguly.
 
In terms of its product offerings, Puma plans to expand its men’s inner wear offerings in India, due to increased demand. Puma also plans to add a wider range of womenswear items, such as bra tops and jackets, to respond to a growing fitness trend, especially among women and across the country as a whole.