Which International Sportswear Brands Can Take The Lead?

Chinese people's attitude towards fitness, sports and body image management has opened up the country.

New business opportunities in the market.

In August this year, in front of the temple gate of the Imperial Palace in Beijing, hundreds of people made colorful Yoga pads for outdoor yoga.

This is the first time that Lululemon has launched a series of Unroll China fitness activities in China.

"The event was launched in three key market cities in China, and all the tickets sold out overnight," said Ken Lee, senior vice president of Lululemon Asia Pacific. The national yoga curriculum is also being held in Shanghai and Chengdu.

Lee also said, "in the next 5 years, you have to be optimistic about the potential of Lululemon in Asia."

Indeed, China's sportswear

Is booming.

According to Euromonitor, a market research firm, from 2014 to 2015, the Chinese sportswear market increased from 23 billion 900 million US dollars to US $26 billion 600 million, and Mintel, a market research consultancy, estimated that the value of China's sportswear and outdoor clothing market was about 124 billion 500 million yuan, accounting for 6% of China's total clothing sales.

In 2015 alone, the market grew by 18%.

Matthew Crabbe, head of Asia Pacific Regional Research in British mint, said, "it is reasonable to expect that the market will increase to about 220 billion yuan by 2020."

Sportswear brands benefit from the current cultural pformation of Chinese people embracing health.

Public participation in sports has increased rapidly.

In the past 5 years, the revenue of the gym and club has nearly doubled in China, and there are more than 1000 fitness venues in Shanghai alone.

Because of the worries that urbanization and industrialization have led to a decline in the overall population health, the national government is also actively promoting people's participation in sports activities.

Earlier this year, China's State Council issued the national fitness program 2016 - 2020, which includes supporting the construction of new public sports facilities and fitness centers, aiming to improve the physical fitness and health of the entire population before 2020.

The impact of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing is still fermented, and people's interest in sports has not been reduced, especially in track and field.

At the same time, many Chinese travel or study abroad are not hard to find. "Sports and leisure" has become the mainstream in encouraging people to participate in sports.

Trend.

Brian Buchwald, co-founder and chief executive of Bomoda, a consumer consultancy, said: "this kind of influence will encourage a more open mind Chinese woman to extend the definition of" beauty "that she has long understood.

In the past few years, most Chinese women have little interest in sports or exercise.

Their beauty is too slim to have muscles.

But in recent years, this attitude has changed significantly.

Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and other model stars are often photographed dressed in "sports and leisure wind" style streets, sharing their health food and fitness programs on social media. This is also a news frequently occupied by Chinese fashion blogs and social media to help promote the trend of fashion and beauty that is closely related to health.

On the whole, the rapid development of China's economy has led to the increase of middle class income and the increase of leisure time.

"They have higher spending power and more choices.

Their high spending power has attracted more sportswear companies to meet the growing market demand for various types of sports, "Crabbe said.

International sportswear giants have also doubled their business opportunities.

In 2015, Adidas and Nike grew by two digits in the Greater China region, and Adidas attributed it to "the strong support of the Chinese people in the Chinese government in sports participation". Nike became a well deserved market leader, occupying 20% market share, and recorded 3 billion 800 million dollars in its 2016 fiscal year greater China sales.

The company is benefiting from the Chinese government's wave of investment in sports and working with the Ministry of education to promote the three year school sports program.

Adidas is catching up with it, and it expects its market share to reach 18.8% in 2016.

Adidas sold $2 billion 750 million in the 2015 fiscal year and announced earlier this year that it opened 3000 new stores in mainland China by 2020.

The company also invested heavily in the sports market and hired Taiwan actress Janine Chang as its brand ambassador.

"Before becoming our brand ambassador, Miss Zhang is also known as the" fitness warrior ", a well-known actress," Buchwald said. "For brands, recruitment is popular and KOL is a good way to attract Chinese consumers.

But everything remains to be developed.

China's per capita consumption of sportswear is relatively low - lower than that of Malaysia, Brazil, Germany and the UK, and the potential is yet to be developed.

Brian Buchwald said: "the attitude of Chinese fitness is still changing."

To tap this business opportunity, sportswear brands need to focus on product design, because many Chinese consumers still see form more than performance.

"The challenge they face is convincing Chinese consumers to show that their products are in line with fashion trends and fashionable.

It is the best way to make up for this gap to invite the main fashion opinion leaders of the fashion industry to form a partnership with fashion designers, "Buchwald said." Adidas Originals has successfully adopted the fist products such as Stan Smiths and NMD sneakers, creating a social media and marketing boom in China.

Indeed, paying attention to this change in social and cultural attitudes is also a good way to establish contacts with Chinese consumers, especially through Tai Chi and other sports.

Adidas and famous martial arts film star Jet Li also co operated with costumes in 2010. Eventually Jet Li and Ma Yun jointly launched Jet Li's personal lifestyle Taiji Zen.

"Physical and mental health are equally important for Chinese consumers," Crabbe said, calling it one of the main reasons for the recent revival of Yoga activities.

Lululemon particularly emphasizes the need to "Customize" new stores according to China's local market.

The company has set up a store in Hongkong, but currently it only sets up exhibition hall (showrooms) in Shanghai and Beijing, and sells it through Tmall mall in mainland China.

"We will start selling products from the exhibition hall, build brand awareness, test products and create real consumer relationships, understand what is important for our community, and then set up a fixed store," Ken Lee said. "We are not selling ourselves to the community, but when they want us to join the new store."

But Crabbe also warned that the brand's international reputation is not a guarantee of success in the Chinese market.