Go Sport sets foot in India, aims for double-digit market share by FY 2025

Go Sport, a French global brand in sportswear, equipment and fitness lifestyle, in association with Tablez, a retail group in India, has opened its first superstore in the country at Seawoods Grand Central Mall, Navi Mumbai, on May 25.

The brand will host a multitude of sport brands under one roof making it a multi-brand, multi-sport and multi-specialty sport destination for all sport enthusiasts in the country.

The brand plans to expand to other metro cities and open five outlets by the end of FY 2019.

Adeeb Ahamed

“Go Sport has a market share of 13% in France. In India, we are expecting a double-digit market share by the year 2025. The brand has 120 stores world-wide. India’s one single market could give them the same number of stores. This reason makes India a key market for Go Sport,” said Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director, Tablez.

In France, Go Sport competes with Decathlon and Indus Sport that have a 35% and 15% market share, respectively. For the Indian market, a multiple sport brand under one roof is not a new concept. SSIPL, a sportswear company, has a nationwide network of exclusive and multi-brand stores and is spread across 90+ cities with 4 lakh square feet of retail presence. Apart from this, Decathlon and Indus Sport’s presence in India will prove to be a good competition for Go Sport. But Ahamed doesn’t see a large competition in the Indian market.

According to Ahamed, Go Sport brings to the table a variety of international and home-grown brands for its consumers, which no other multi-sport brand store has. “The brand’s store format differs in comparison to other multi-brand stores,” he said.

The brand plans to open 20 stores by the year 2024. It will double the stores if the responses for the first couple of stores is good in India.

Shahnavas PN, Marketing Head, Go Sport India, said, “We are in the process of forming a static marketing plan for the next six months. Three to five per cent of the total sales in India will be allocated to marketing. We are focusing on digital marketing to market Go Sport in India. The pick of digital medium is also on the basis of the TG the brand targets. Go Sport’s TG is between the ages of 25-45; for this age group digital marketing will be most beneficial.”

Apart from digital marketing, the brand will spend on influencer marketing, community-related marketing and experimental marketing. Go Sport’s digital marketing is handled by Mad About Digital.

“We will launch a sport blog on our Go Sport website, which will have internally generated content by sport experts on various sport we are pushing. This will help our consumers to have knowledge of various sport of the country, which will drive their interest,” he says.

Speaking on the revenue expectations, Ahamed said, “The total sport branded segment is around $3.3 billion globally and is supposed to grow around five billion next year and further 9% year on year. But we are looking to get minute numbers compared to the international field because the consumer’s mindset in India differs from abroad. The Indian consumer looks for a value in the product. They buy and spend less on their temporary likeness or less important priorities, which slows down the sales flow of sport merchandise. Copied branded products in the market also stops consumers from opting for original sport merchandise.”

Apart from this, reach plays a very big role. The revenue increases when reach goes up. Go Sport will spend the next two years in establishing itself, focusing only on opening new stores and spreading awareness among consumers.

According to Ahamed, the new government should focus on opening more academies of sport other than cricket and kabaddi.

The brand’s creative segment is handled by People, a creative agency based in Bengaluru. Media planning and buying are handled by Interactive Avenues.

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