Adidas Will Target Niche Market

To surpass Nike (Nike Inc.) as China's largest sportswear brand, Adidas (Adidas AG) will aim at niche market such as high-end fashion and children's wear. A German sporting goods company said Monday that it hopes to earn more than 1 billion euros (US $1 billion 300 million) in 2011 in mainland China, Hongkong and Taiwan. To achieve this goal, Adidas plans to target competitors who have not yet occupied the dominant market segments. By revenue, Adidas is the second largest sporting goods manufacturer in the world, behind Nike.

Herbert Hainer, chief executive of Adidas, said China's interest in leisure and fashion is more than any other country Adidas has.

Competition for Chinese sportswear consumers has become fierce. According to Euromonitor, a market research firm, Nike has 7500 stores in China, which is China. market Top sports brand. Adidas has 6700 retail outlets in China, but declined to say how many stores it plans to open this year.

Although sportswear and sports trousers are very common in China, the participation rate of sports is not high. Chinese consumers are also less likely to buy high-end products of Western sportswear, which are generally for sports fans in other markets.

ADIS and Nike, based in the US, are interested in improving the sales of high-end sports equipment. But Adidas has also seen growth potential in other areas. Haina said that this year the company will strengthen the marketing of Adidas NEO series. NEO is a casual wear series targeting young people. The price of striped hoodies is about $60, which is about 40% cheaper than Adidas's other brands.

NEO aims to become a tight budget consumer or two or three tier city. consumption The introductory series. Haina said he believes that 2/3 of the company's chances are in two or three tier cities. He said that as the budget increases, consumers will be more able to buy Adidas's more high-end products. The company's high-end series of Y-3's fringe leather windbreaker sells for about $3100, and the middle sleeve twill jacket is about $2650.

Adidas also plans to Children's wear Domain expansion. This is a rising market in China, because parents want to buy the best things for their only children. Adidas has 500 children's wear shops throughout China, including 215 dollar high-end leather children's boots.

Market watchers say Adidas may face enormous challenges in attacking these niche markets. Fast fashion brands and other garment manufacturers such as Zara, Spain's Inditex SA, are expanding rapidly in China.

Tang Shide Torsten Stocker, partner of Monitor Group, said that sportswear companies must be rooted in sportswear performance if they want to differentiate themselves from "pure" fashion brands as competitors.

Adidas knows it needs further deepening in the field of sporting goods. It will invest more outdoor equipment stores and sell mountaineering products and durable equipment to more adventurous consumers in China.

Haina said that in the first nine months of last year, Adidas's sales in China amounted to 900 million euros, up 28% from the same period last year.