Adidas launches ”secondary" sports site

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Oct 28, 2014

Adidas is dividing its online business into segments. The company is focusing its primary site on lifestyle and major sports such as football, basketball, running and training. 

At the same time, it has recently launched a new site, Adidas Specialty Sports, presenting its offer for athletes of ten sports with smaller international audiences.

In spring, Adidas enlisted Hermes NexTec, a subsidiary of the German giant Otto, to develop the site with a range of products for handball, weightlifting, rugby, cycling, swimming, wrestling, hockey, cricket, badminton and skiing. Each sport has been given its own section. 

Hermes NexTec said in a statement that it will provide the sportswear company with a full-service solution including merchant, content, IT management and marketing services. It has already developed solutions for Wrangler, Lee, Wolford and Escada. Hermes Logistik Gruppe Deutschland, meanwhile, offers parcel distribution across Europe via its European delivery network.

Adidas launched its new site across Europe before bringing it to the Chinese market. It now has versions in 16 countries in six languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish, English, Chinese). In 2015, the company plans to launch the site in the US, with a range specific to the local market. 

Adidas will, however, have to tackle a few areas for improvement. For example, Adidas discount coupons are currently only supported on the Specialty sports site. But the group intends to streamline its ranges and services. While it has not given particular targets for the site, it did say that it is aiming for 500 million euros in sales via e-commerce in 2015.