Japanese Sports Equipment Brand Opens First Experience Store In China

Japanese sports equipment brand Asics opened its first Chinese experience store in Shanghai.

In this new experience store on Huaihai Road, Asics showcases its advantages in the running area to consumers. It not only provides 3D foot measuring service called foot ID, but also has a running lab which offers scientific testing and analysis of physical abilities of runners. It is reportedly the first time for Asics to introduce the running lab to another Asian country outside Japan.

Apart from running shoes and equipment, Asics' Shanghai experience store also sells about 450 kinds of products for training, tennis, badminton, and volleyball.

Asics initially developed the Chinese market via agents. In 2008, to establish its brand image, Asics' headquarters decided to take back the sales rights from its general agent in China and set up a Chinese branch for marketing and brand promotion. At present, Asics has 219 stores in mainland China, including 45 owned stores and 174 agency stores.

In the leisure sports sector, Asics Group also has two brands, Asics Tiger and Onitsuka Tiger. Though the two brands are not available in the experience store, they have many sales sites in the Chinese market. Meanwhile, Onitsuka Tiger already entered Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Tmall.com and JD.com.