Fitbit looks to capitalise on health issues, awareness in India

San Francisco-based wearable device-maker Fitbit on Tuesday announced that it was making its products line available throughout the country via both offline and online sales routes and is also looking to capitalise on the growing health issues and awareness.

"The high rise in cases of obesity, diabetes, hypertension combined with the trend of early adoption of technology is what we are looking at currently to increase our business in the country," Fitbit's chief revenue officer Woody Scal told IANS at the sidelines of a launch event.

"Although the segment is new in India, we are seeing that people in India are becoming more aware of their health and fitness levels. This makes for a perfect reason to expand our coverage area," he said.

The top wearables company in terms of shipments said that the range of Fitibit devices in India, which are priced between Rs.3,990 to Rs.19,990, will now be available in more than 300 Reliance Digital, Croma and Helios stores.

Although the company did not disclose the amount of investment in India, Scal said that the company was investing heavily in the country.

"As a part of our marketing strategy, we will invest in television commercials, print and digital advertising. We already have celebrities like top shuttler Saina Nehwal and actors like Shraddha Kapoor, and Tiger Shroff to support the brand here," Scal said.

Fitbit also said that as part of its strategy, it was looking at local partners to educate more people about the need of fitness. "We will also be partnering with NGOs, heart associations and also try to participate in wellness programmes of different corporates to expand our footprint and create brand awareness," Scal said to a query about surviving the price sensitive India market where rivals like Xiaomi is selling well.

The company also launched the FitStar Personal Trainer app in order to deliver a more personalised video-based workout session. The app was acquired by Fitbit earlier this year.

On this, Scal said: "At Fitbit, we know that a healthier, more active lifestyle is in everyone's reach. By helping people see that that small changes can add up to big results, Fitbit makes the path toward health and fitness engaging and sustainable."

The company, which has sold 25 million devices since its inception in 2009, went public this year in June. It operates in 55 countries in the world and has over 45,000 retail outlets globally. In India, Fitbit's service network will be handled and operated by IT supply and chain management company Ingram Micro.

According to analytics firm International Data Corporation (IDC), Fitbit is the world's top wearables brand in terms of shipments followed by Xiaomi an Garmin.