Yogawear retailer Lululemon Athletica is attempting to exploit an opportunity to expand its presence across China as the country’s younger population begins to show signs it is becoming more health conscious.
China is Lululemon’s fourth largest market, with the company currently operating six retail outlets across China and via an Alibaba Tmall store that it launched in 2015. It has also revealed plans to launch a further five stores across the country by the end of the year.
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Lululemon CEO Laurent Potdevin said in a televised interview with news outlet CNBC that the company is looking to capitalise on the growing number of millennials in China who are increasingly health conscious, in a bid to grow its brand in the country.
“It’s a millennial, it’s a global citizen, an affluent rising middle class [location] with 415 million millennials. More and more of them are wanting to lead an active, mindful lifestyle.”
According to CNBC, gym membership across the country has doubled since 2008 to 6.6m.
Potdevin said the brand is targeting the young Chinese consumer using digital and social media channels. He added that with its brand awareness visibly growing, the company is keen to expand its presence in China.
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By GlobalDataResearch published last year noted that 60% of the world’s millennials are expected to live in Asia by 2020, with sales expected to rise 300% to US$2.6 trillion by 2020. According to the analysis by Accenture, millennials in the region spend an average of 2.8 hours per day (or 42.5 days per year) on their smartphones, and will have more spending power than any previous generation.
Personalisation key to capturing millennial shoppers in Asia
