German sportswear maker Adidas wants to increase its U.S. market share to around 15-20 percent from levels that are now “significantly lower”, its chief financial officer said.
“In every market we have a share of at least 15 to 20 percent,” CFO Harm Ohlmeyer told the Boersen Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday.
“Our medium-term goal in the United States is also to reach that level. Currently we are significantly lower,” he added. Market researchers estimate Adidas’ share of the U.S. market at about 10 percent, implying a goal to at least double it.
Adidas has been taking market share in North America and China from its main competitor Nike, and hopes the launch of new team kits before this year’s soccer World Cup will revive its relatively weak sales in Europe.
Growth in the U.S. market has, however, “been too fast for our infrastructure”, Ohlmeyer said, adding that Adidas would build out its logistics capacity there this year to clear supply bottlenecks.
Adidas expects to keep its Reebok brand, which has undergone a restructuring and is expected to return to growth in the United States this year, he said, although it is not yet making money.
“The brand is far from the level that we are striving for,” said Ohlmeyer, who started the job last May.
Adidas will also this year open a new warehouse facility in the German state of Lower Saxony to help scale up its e-commerce business, he said. Online sales rose by around half last year to 1.5 billion euros ($1.83 billion). ($1 = 0.8201 euros) (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by Clelia Oziel)