Adidas Group India is planning to launch a mobile app for their customers by December, primarily to engage the customers through interesting content and loyalty programmes, and to drive their online sales.
The move is significant as it may be a harbinger of increasing fragmentation in online retail for fashion over the next few years. At present, most brands, including Adidas, do not have independent shopping apps and are their products are available on online fashion portals, such as Myntra and Jabong, and marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon, among others.
Senior officials with Adidas has explained that they are nit eyeing at an app to only drive sales and pull in customers to buy the Adidas products, rather they are looking at the format to engage more consumers with rewards programme for loyal customers to increase their engagement with the brand.
The online channels on which Adidas currently retails contribute 10%-15% of the company’s overall sales.
By launching their own app, Adidas is also trying to tap into social commerce in online fashion stores. The social commerce refers to the strategy by firms of offering content and creating communities of users for fashion. It’s primarily an attempt to hook users using alternatives other than discounts.
According to industry experts, with aspects such as logistics being handled by specialty third-party firms, the ease of launching online stores for brands has only increased. Besides, brands can leverage their network of retail outlets to enhance distribution and last-mile delivery.
Adidas has also expanded its omni-channel presence since the launch of the initiative in early 2015. By December, Adidas plans to bring about 400 stores under the omni-channel loop. The stores under the omni-channel strategy have witnessed about 3-5% increase in revenue and the number is expected to double in the next 12 months.
