International Sports Accessories Brands Eyeing Indian Market for Expansion

Sports have emerged as one of the most profitable market segment in today’s time. Given the increased health consciousness of consumers and an increase in taking up fitness activities such as aerobics, swimming, running, and yoga, has increased the demand for sportswear and sports goods.

The Indian sports market is growing remarkably at 15% per annum against the global growth rate of 5%. This has made India a hot-spot for a global sports brand to venture in India.

For example, last year, one of the leading sportswear brands in the world, Under Armour marked its foray into India with the launch of its first brick and mortar store in Delhi. Danish sports lifestyle brand, Hummel International has entered the Indian market with five franchise stores. Also, Polish sportswear brand 4F is readying its maiden foray into India in June this year. The brands are either opting for franchising route or e-commerce.

Recently, another global sports retailer, GO Sport has ventured into the thriving Indian market. Tablez, a leading organised retail group in the Middle East, holds the master franchisee of GO Sports and has launched the first outlet in India at Sea woods Grand Central Mall, Navi Mumbai.

The Game-Changing Opportunity

Tablez is the brand retailing arm of the Lulu group which has introduced world-renowned F&B, toys, lifestyle and apparel brands to GCC & India. Owing to the favourable outlook of the market, Tablez partnered up with GO Sport to venture into this profitable segment.

The brand has positioned GO Sport as the place for all sports enthusiasts, and those who are keen on trying out new sports. GO sport prides in being the first multi-brand, multi-sport and multi-speciality sports destination for all sports enthusiast in the country. The store will have 70+ brands and labels under one roof, 16 brands which are unique to India including North Face and some French brands.

Indian Expansion Strategy

Research is the foundation stone for any brand planning for international expansion. One needs to understand the market, the demographics, the needs and desires of the consumers and then place their products accordingly.

Tablez, the master franchise of GO sports in India and Sri Lanka, conducted a thorough research & development process before venturing in the Indian Market. It took the brand more than 12 months to fixate on how to position the brand and portray the right image. It took a lot of planning and strategising, to adapt GO sport International to an Indian context.

GO Sport believes in the philosophy of going beyond personal boundaries and will be positioned as ‘The Sports Superstore’ in India. One can find everything in the store whether it’s related to football, cricket, swimming, tennis etc and the USP is the availability of multiple brands under one roof.

Future Expansion Plans

GO sport will soon be launched in Bengaluru. The brand is eyeing two more outlets in Mumbai and Bengaluru this year. GO sport will also be exploring opportunities to venture into the markets like Hyderabad, Chennai over the next years.