--By Pinaki Roy
R etailing of sportswear products in Nepal has been growing due to the rise in income, changing lifestyle, and consumer preferences. “People are getting more health conscious and also getting increasingly interested in sporting activities which augurs well for sportswear business,” said Deepak Bista, Executive Director of Sports Universe, a sports goods store at New Baneshwor. Bista, also a former Olympian, added, “People coming to my store go back satisfied because the products here are of good quality and reasonably priced.”
To conduct sportswear business, not too long ago, was quite difficult as people were not as brand conscious as they are today. “It is disappointing to see at times that today’s kids are getting more inclined towards electronic gadgets than into sporting activities,” said Rahul Agrawal, Owner of Nike Store, “We must ensure that the sporting culture in our country retains its value.”
Increasing Brand Literacy
However, aided by media like Internet and television, brand literacy rate has gone up. As a result, transaction volume of sportswear sales has considerably gone up in the span of the last few years. The ever increasing popularity of sporting activities along with the growing interest in sports such as football, cricket, martial arts and tennis among others has contributed to the growth of functional sportswear market in the country of late.
Major Players
Roots Fashion, the authorised seller of Adidas in Nepal, has its showrooms mostly featuring sportswear including shoes, track suits, swimming costumes and T-shirts. Adidas showrooms also stocks caps, socks, bags, slippers, basketballs, footballs and hand bands and Adidas’ casual line. The brand enjoys enormous popularity among brand-conscious people in Kathmandu, and as a result, the company expanded its network in the country. Established in 2000, Roots Fashion maintains exclusive Adidas outlets at Durbar Marg, Kumaripati, Tripureshwor, City Centre, Putali Sadak and New Road.
Avenue Marketing, authorised distributor of Nike for Nepal, sells exclusive range of shoes from the American clothing and sport equipment giant. The company also has the latest line of jogging, lifestyle, tennis, football and basketball shoes from Nike Store at Durbar Marg. “We introduce the best designs and quality products to cater to the demand of our customers,” said Agrawal. While clothes at Nike Store are priced between Rs 900 and Rs 4,000, the shoes are in the range from Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000.
Nike Store at Durbarmarg has been in operation for the last 11 years, informed Agrawal, “In recent times, the currency depreciation of Nepali Rupee vis-à-vis the US Dollar has us in a spot of bother as it makes the products dearer for the customers.” It is worth mentioning here that distributors of various sportswear brands in Nepal import their products from different parts of the world.
Anta Sports Nepal, a franchise store of the popular Chinese sports brand Anta, sells its products from its outlets at Jyatha, near Thamel which was the first Anta store opened in September 2011; Anta Building, Bhatbhateni; Saraswoti Nagar, Kapan; Dillibazaar and Sohrakhutte. The company came up with an aggressive expansion plan after witnessing a huge demand for its products. It has now opened new showrooms at Anta Tower, Durbarmarg; KL Tower, Chuchchepati; Jawalakhel, Lalitpur; and Pipalbot, Boudha and plans to expand to Pokhara and Biratnagar. Anta Sports Nepal claims to have a large number of repeat customers.
The store also updates its collection multiple times a year and keeps its customers informed about the merchandise, new arrivals, events, locations and discounts. The store offers a large selection of professional, functional and fashionable apparel, footwear and accessories in running, cross training, outdoor, basketball, tennis, futsal, football, casual and lifestyle series.
After ruling Nepali taekwondo for more than a decade, Deepak Bista forayed into business by opening Sports Universe, a sports goods showroom, at New Baneshwar earlier this year. He is one of four partners with equal shares in Sports Universe and credits one of the partners, with inspiring him to enter into business. “We sell sports accessories to players and sports institutions including schools and colleges,” said Bista. The store has a mix of various brands and sporting equipments under a single roof.
Secret of Success
Reebok, a popular sportswear brand sold in Nepal by Sports Plaza, has been constantly working at diversifying its product range and to provide better options for customers. To serve this purpose, it introduced a range called ´classical´ to provide wider options to both men and women who look for ´American-inspired global product´. Reebok stores feature T-shirts, trousers, footwear, shorts and different accessories like caps, socks, summer shawls, among others. The Reebok store at Durbarmarg has wide varieties of apparels and footwear with classical looks because every year the company tweaks its designs so as to diversify its product range and provide better options for customers.
Anta Sports Nepal said its focus is mainly on customer service. “We are looking to establish a brand name on account of our reasonable pricing and quality service,” said a store attendant. Venturing in a market where top international sports brands had already made their mark was not easy. “It was very competitive to begin with but we have got a foothold in the market now with such a large collection of both men’s and women’s apparel in addition to footwear and accessories.”
Counterfeit Products
Even though these stores claim to have sizeable loyal customer base, they said adding new costumers is still a tough job due to easy availability of counterfeit products. Unorganised players imitate product styles, brand logos and names, which adversely impacts the brand equity and sales brands. Although the future looks promising for the Nepali sportswear market, the industry still has a number of challenges to face including counterfeiting which is one of the biggest challenges sportswear brands are facing in Nepal today.
