MUMBAI: Japanese sportswear brand ASICS, “Gold Partner” for next year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo, has ambitions to be the most visible brand in India during the mega event.
So far, ASICS has tied up with potential Olympians such as Rohan Bopanna (Tennis), Karman Kaur Thandi (Tennis), Jinson Johnson (Athletics), T Gopi (Athletics), Sakshi Malik (Wrestling) and Bajrang Punia (Wrestling, already qualified for the Olympics), who will be fronting the brand at Tokyo 2020, New Indian Express reports.
“Despite being a late entrant, our company has successfully presented itself as a high-performance and high-technology offering in India. We are looking to expand exponentially by investing actively in brand partnerships,” said Rajat Khurana, managing director of ASICS India. Apart from these athletes, the company will tie up with at least three or four more, with announcements to be made in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Currently, India is a highly under-penetrated market for the brand and the company sees “huge scope for growth”.
Over the next three years, ASICS will open at least 14-15 new stores every year, including a few in tier-2 and tier-3 towns, taking the number of total stores to 50 by December-end, the daily reports.
Apart from ASICS brand stores, opened in partnership with local associates, ASICS shoes are also available in about 300 multi-brand stores and a few online marketplaces that account for 15-18% of its sales, Khurana told NIE.
ASICS India recorded revenues of Rs 935 million for the year ending March 2018, and has been growing at a CAGR of 35-40% since 2015.
“Our repeat customers are quite high and we believe we can double, if not treble, our revenue numbers over the next three to four years,” said Khurana.
