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Sports brand aims to double Asean sales
The running shoe company Asics expects sales in Thailand will ignite revenue in the region to double in five years.
Asics Corporation aims to double Asean sales to be on par with China over the next five years, driven largely by Thailand.
Yasuhito Hirota, the company’s president, said during his visit to Bangkok yesterday Thailand will become an important country in boosting sales of Asics in Asean, accounting for 10% of total global sales over the next five years, up from 5% last year.
“The company expanded its business to Thailand in 2016 and saw demand continue to grow for Asics shoes in this market,” he said.
“The landscape for running shoes in Thailand is rapidly changing. I was very surprised to see the huge increase in Thai runners from five years ago.”
Global sales of Asics shoes totalled ¥400 billion in 2018. About 10% of the total was from China and 5% from Asean.
“We are regarded as a new sporting shoe brand in Asean. We opened our operation in Singapore in 2013 and in Thailand in 2016,” said Mr Hirota.
“There is huge potential to grab more market share in running shoes in this region, particularly in Thailand, which is Asean’s fashion capital.”
Yogesh Gandhi, managing director of Asics Asia Pte, said its shoe sales in Thailand rank third in Asean after Singapore and Indonesia.
To increase Asics shoe sales in Thailand to become its largest market in Asean, the company will prioritise three areas: launching product innovation in the market; investing more in the digital platform to offer seamless shopping to Thai customers; and expanding running shoe products, which have promising growth here, he said.
The market value for running shoes in Thailand is estimated at more than US$100 million, accounting for about 20% of the total sporting goods market here.
The size of the running shoe market in Asean is $400 million per year.
There are eight Asics shoe shops in Thailand, expected to double to 16 in 3-5 years, said Mr Gandhi.
The company started to offer Asics online in May and plans to beef up digital activities to approach more Thai customers next year.