Adidas heavily investing in China, foresees huge potential

Adidas is heavily investing in China, where sales growth is triple its global rate, with plans to open 1,000 stores there this year and expand online.

It targets doubling the number of Chinese cities where it is present to 2,400. Online retailing is its fastest growing channel there, jumping more than 50 per cent in 2018, compared with 36 per cent globally.

Chief executive officer of the German sportswear company Kasper Rørsted feels the opportunity in China is unbelievably large, according to Chinese media reports.

As China and North America make up half of the global sporting goods market, winning in these two markets is a priority for the company, which intends to differentiate products for millennials by connecting with them and launching local celebrity endorsements, said Rørsted.

Close to nine-tenths of consumers are learning about products through digital channels before they purchase and therefore, the company has been connecting its physical stores with online retailing, said Colin Currie, managing director of Adidas Asia Pacific.

China's sportswear market is projected to surge to S$46.36 billion by 2023, according to international market research firm Mintel.

Total China sales—the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan—grew 23 per cent last year, compared with global growth of 8 per cent.