Reebok to focus on kidswear, to beef up lifestyle portfolio

American sportswear brand Reebok is strengthening its position in the lifestyle segment to maintain its leadership in India's Rs 1,700-crore branded sportswear market. Apart from improving its womenswear portfolio, the company is evaluating opportunities in the kids' wear segment. It also wants to introduce high-end apparel and footwear and invest further in sports like soccer.

Reebok India, which according to the management, enjoys a 51 per cent share of the branded sportswear market in the country, posted a turnover of Rs 900 crore in 2007.

Subhinder Singh Prem, managing director, Reebok India, said, "India is an evolving market and what is true now may not be true in the future. We did not address the kids market two years ago. However, it is a huge opportunity now and threshold prices have risen. Moreover, parents want to be known by what their kids wear."

Prem said Reebok may initially opt for a presence in department stores for kids wear and later roll out stand-alone outlets. The company also intends to invest in soccer to increase brand awareness among children.

"We will be investing heavily in soccer as we see it developing as the next big sport in India. Reebok is already associated with top three football teams in India and will extend this to grassroot activities through schools and colleges."

The company plans to scale up the number of retail outlets from 580 to 750 by the end of 2008. Prem observed, "We have grown six-fold in the last four years. While we will build the brand through lifestyle categories, the growth will come from the tier I and smaller cities." Reebok will grow its retail network through Reebok Performance and Lifestyle stores. The brand will cater to the high-end of the market through technology products in the footwear and apparel segments.

Talking of Adidas which recently acquired Reebok globally, Prem said, "Reebok and Adidas have a combined 75 per cent market share in India. They are two separate brands for customers but we have realised some back-end synergies especially in the area of sourcing."