Nike to expand its presence in India

Nike is set to launch a slew of products in the Indian market in an effort to tap into the huge potential.

The company has zeroed in on eyewear and is mulling golf goods and kidswear in the near future.

Sanjay Mehra, General Manager, Nike India said that India has the potential to be a billion dollar sports goods market and Nike hopes to get a big bite of the market.

By the end of the fiscal, Nike will be launching eyewear and consolidating its wristwear brands. "Through our monobrand stores, we have seen our India business grow at a fast pace, by over 50 per cent per annum."

Nike entered India directly in June 2004, about six years after its main competitor Adidas.

In addition to monobrand stores, it has presence through 150-odd multi-brand stores and over 600 mom-and-pop stores. It will also add another 75 mono-brand outlets.

It hopes to widen its market presence through an increase in its ad spend. About 9-10 per cent of Nike's global revenues go into marketing its products.

"We don't see any limit to how much the consumer can spend, but finding space for our stores is turning out to be the biggest hurdle," Mehra said.