Popular sporting footwear brand, Skechers, has bought out Future Group’s 49% shares in its joint venture. With that, it has become an independent entity in India. While the company has not confirmed any financial reports, experts estimate that they paid close to 580 Crore INR for this deal. Like many other international brands, Skechers has huge plans for its business in India. They’ve set the ball rolling for their expansion in the country, also may also expand their product portfolio to reflect the kinds of items they sell in the United States soon.
How and why does Skechers plan to expand its business in India?
Skechers is the second largest sporting brand in the US. However, one would not think that judging by its position in the Indian market. Sporting brand competitors like Reebok, Puma, Adidas, and Nike enjoy a far greater position in the Indian market. Furthermore, these brands are also looking to move beyond cricket, and plan to add more sporting elements to their product catalog too. Perhaps taking their cue from these brands, Skechers has decided to expand its grasp of the Indian market.
Now that they are functioning as independent entities, they plan to add their own manufacturing units in the country. This will not only improve logistics and distributions for them but may also warrant a revised pricing range too. Furthermore, Skechers also wants to introduce more products in India. As of now, they offer a wide range of products in the US like watches, sunglasses, socks, and apparel. Additionally, the brand wants to open at least 80-100 new stores in India. So it’s safe to say that they want to follow a more aggressive approach with regards to expansion as they plan to open all these stores in 2019.
India is a top priority market for many brands this year!
According to David Weinberg, the CEO of Skechers, “Few markets match the potential for growth like India does, which is why we entered the market initially and recently decided to buy the minority stake in our joint venture”.
Skechers is not the only international brand that is planning an aggressive expansion in India. British clothing brand, Marks & Spencer also plans to open 6 more stores in the next two months, in spite of having opened 9 stores over the last 6 months. India certainly offers a lot of potential for growth for many of these brands, which is why so many think that an aggressive expansion does not have wild risks in India.
Decathlon is another sporting brand that has been enjoying quite a bit of success in India. In 2014, they claimed that they planned to open 50 new outlets in the following 5 years. They also talked about how they want to open 100 stores in India someday, as they feel the country has the potential for growth that justifies such expansion. India has been its top priority market since its launch in 2009.
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