Sportswear brand Anta seeks up to 25% compound annual growth

Anta, the sportswear brand of the Xiamen, Fujian province-based Anta Group, aims to reach compound annual growth rate in retail sales of the next five years between 18 to 25 percent through efforts that include winning generation Z consumers and boosting digitalization, its top executives said on Thursday.

Speaking of its five-year strategic targets and a 24-month acceleration plan, Anta said annual growth of online retail sales will exceed 30 percent, with online business taking up 40 percent of total retail sales by 2025.

In five years, the median-priced sportswear brand is expected to raise its high-end product proportion through developing cutting-edge technology to keep up with consumption upgrades and diversified demands from younger consumers. The company is investing 4 billion yuan in research and development in five years.

Running, basketball and women's sportswear have remained Anta's priority. By 2025, annual sales volume of its running shoes is expected to grow to 40 million pairs from 20 million pairs now. Sales volume of basketball sneakers is expected to be raised from the current 6 million pairs to 12 million pairs. The brand is building its women's sportswear category to a revenue of nearly 20 billion yuan.

In two years, Anta is to add more stores in shopping centers in first-tier to third-tier cities. Its store efficiency is expected to surge by more than 40 percent.

Anta Kids, a prominent sub-brand of Anta, aims to increase its online business to take up 40 percent of its total revenue by 2025.

The company will continue to sponsor outfits for the Chinese National Teams. Anta will capture mainstream business districts in first- and second-tier cities by developing "Champion Series" high-end products and setting up "ANTA Champion Stores", the company said.

Building stronger digitalization is a key driver for Anta, which is investing 400 million yuan in the next 24 months in this sector.

"The growth of online business in the years to come will trump that of offline due to the changes of consumers' behaviors. We will continue to invest in online operations and digitalization to adapt to the trend," said Zheng Jie, president of Anta Group.

For example, the company has plans to boost its self-operated media platforms and content productions to optimize its touchpoints with more consumers and to increase their repeat buying.

Anta said it plans to double the number of effective members to 120 million by 2025, contributing to about 70 percent of revenues. Its private traffic system is to be enhanced to make up to 20 percent in revenues from the current less than 10 percent. Livestreaming at brick-and-mortar stores and inviting key influencers in marketing also are hoped to fuel sales, particularly among generation Z consumers.

"Anta will not only help national professional athletes improve their performance through our world-class R&D innovation capability, but also will apply premium-quality technology and materials to mass products to provide sports-lovers with more professional choices. I believe that after over 30 years of accelerated transformation, Anta brand will achieve rapid growth in the next 24 months and become a leading sports brand in China," Ding Shizhong, chairman and CEO of Anta Group, said.