 "Asics expects India to be its fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia")
Asics expects India to become its fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia and its first prominent market outside the US, Europe, Japan, and China, Rajat Khurana, managing director at Asics India and South Asia, told Raghav Aggarwal in an email interview. He also discussed the changing trends of the shoe market in the country.
Edited excerpts:
How many stores do you aim to open by the end of 2025 and 2026 in India?
Currently, we stand at 103 stores across India and are eyeing consistent expansion across India. We aim to expand with more stores in tier 1, 2, and 3 markets over the next few years and potentially double the number of stores by 2026.
In addition to this, we aim to add more running clubs and partnerships with Marathon events in our existing markets and lead the running and fitness industry in India.
Do you have any plans to open a company-owned store in India?
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Yes, we aim to open our first exclusive brand store in 2026, giving Indian consumers access to an expanded global product portfolio.
Which regions in India are reporting growing demand for your shoes?
We have witnessed interest in sports and purchase behaviour from tier 1 as well as tier 2 and 3 cities. We are widely present with mono-brand stores across the market but there is a strong demand for digital sales channels from tier 2 and 3.
This trend is strongly influenced by the rising number of sports and running events in the country.
Are you more bullish on offline sales or online sales?
It is a healthy mix. Besides franchise-run stores, our products are also sold through multi-brand stores, our own site, and e-commerce marketplaces.
While we garner a significant portion of sales from digital channels, retail outlets contribute about 60 per cent to the overall business.
Has consumer preferences and buying patterns changed in India?
In the last few years, we have witnessed a mindset shift in people, regardless of their age or their background. People are leading a more balanced and active lifestyle, which subsequently drives demand for trendy sports gear.
The key growth drivers of the sports footwear and apparel industry include rising disposable income and purchasing power of consumers, growing fashion consciousness, rising urbanisation, increasing demand for comfortable and durable footwear and growth of e-commerce platforms and online shopping.
Is there any particular shoe type that Asics is focusing on?
Asics is committed to offering class products across categories like Tennis, Cricket, Badminton, Squash and Sportstyle. However, our major business comes from core performance running, which is also a key focus area for Asics globally as well as in India.
What are your targets for the Indian market?
From a global standpoint, we are targeting a 25 per cent growth compound annual growth rate in the country over the next few years. With more than 50 per cent of the business in the country coming from performance running, we intend to promote a running culture in India.
In fact, running has grown exponentially in India, where the number of registered runners has jumped from 30,000 in 2004 to 2.5 million at present, and the trend is expected to continue.
Asics expects India to emerge as the fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia for the company over the next few years.
Even though Asics is a late entrant into India compared with the other foreign brands, as we opened our first store only in 2015. But we see huge potential and prominence in the market because of the size of the population and the economic growth.
Outside of the four major markets of the US, Europe, Japan, and China, India is the company's first prominent market.