Athleisure brand SKECHERS sees fast growth on China market

BEIJING - Global athleisure brand SKECHERS has seen fast sales growth in China since it entered the market 10 years ago.

The company's sales in the Chinese market grew 73 percent annually on average during the past decade, with sales volume surging from 74 million yuan ($11.2 million) in 2008 to 10.43 billion yuan in 2017, according to Willie Tan, SKECHERS CEO for the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea and Southeast Asia markets.

Tan attributed the brand's rapid growth in the Chinese market to an effective partnership model, localized operations and branding as well as an efficient supply chain.

SKECHERS is run by a joint venture in China, which had over 2,446 outlets by the end of last year, covering all major cities nationwide. Their products are sold by SKECHERS directly as well as by distributors.

To further boost sales in China, the company inked agreements with retail brands and commercial center operators including Belle International, Wangfujing Group and Beijing Capital Group last week.

Tan pointed out that online sales are also growing rapidly in the world's largest e-commerce market. The company's official online store saw sales up 77 percent during the 6.18 e-commerce shopping festival.

"Based on the current growth momentum, I'm very positive that our sales in China will top 15 billion yuan this year," Tan said.