Sales of athletic shoes, apparel and gear brand Reebok have more than doubled in the last three years, its sales network has expanded to over 210 stores, after an Aditya Birla group firm acquired its India rights.
Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Ltd (ABLBL) plans to add 40-50 stores annually over the next few years as it looks to tap significant untapped market opportunities, company officials said in the latest earnings call.
Reebok, which delivered around 30 per cent growth in the latest March quarter, continues to witness strong momentum from both same-store sales growth and network expansion, the management said.
“Reebok is on a good wicket in terms of momentum, but we have only begun. We still have a lot of catching up to do in terms of the overall network,” said ABLBL Deputy Managing Director Vishak Kumar.
The company sees substantial whitespace opportunities for the brand across India and intends to maintain an aggressive expansion strategy.
“We have about 210-odd stores in the network for Reebok. The runway is much larger than that. Network expansion will continue. Forty to fifty stores per year for the next few years should be par for the course, unless we do more than that,” Kumar said while replying to a query.
In 2021, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd (ABFRL) had entered into a long-term licensing agreement with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), securing exclusive rights to distribute and sell Reebok products across India and select ASEAN markets.
Reebok is now housed under ABLBL following the demerger of the branded apparel business from ABFRL.
According to him, Reebok’s growth is being driven by a combination of double-digit like-for-like sales growth and new products have kicked in, which are also “fueling” it further.
It is also banking on new product launches to sustain growth momentum. Recently, Reebok launched its Multi-Court Shoes range, which Kumar described as a “breakthrough product” that has received a strong market response.
“My sense is that both like-to-like growth and expansion on Reebok should continue for some time to come,” he said, adding that network expansion across brands will continue. “We have got a fairly robust pipeline of stores.” Kumar said the brand has been on a strong growth trajectory since ABLBL acquired it around three years ago.
“Since we have taken over the brand three years back, it has almost doubled in size… We will hopefully grow faster than that going forward,” he said, adding, “there are brands like Reebok where there is huge catching up to do.” Kumar said the brand has been on a strong growth trajectory since ABLBL acquired it around three years ago.
“Since we have taken over the brand three years back, it has almost doubled in size. We will hopefully grow faster than that going forward,” he added.
As part of Reebok’s expansion, ABLBL is also targeting emerging retail destinations and smaller towns to drive growth, besides the metro markets.
“There are very strong whitespaces in Reebok because we have a lot of catching up to do. New malls and locations are continuously emerging across the country and we will tap into those opportunities. Small towns have also been a good source of growth and we will continue to focus on them,” Kumar said.
He added that product innovation and deeper category penetration would remain key drivers of same-store sales growth.
“There is a lot of opportunity on product innovations and category play. Our retail like-for-like growth has remained in double digits and we believe there is still room for continuous improvement,” Kumar said.