Sportswear maker plans to attract young, high-end consumers with affordable prices

Anta Sports Products Ltd has unveiled a new series of products to target young, high-end consumers with affordable prices in a move to take on the sector's leading brand Lululemon.

Named AntapluS, the new brand is designed for activities including yoga, running, and cross training. The first AntapluS flagship store will be opening in Beijing next month at the LIVAT Center.

"AntapluS is the answer to the market trend and consumer needs after thorough research. We are hoping to bond yoga fans with our pleasant lifestyle sharing platform and apparel products," Cho Kwang Hoon, brand president of AntapluS, said.

The AntapluS official added: "AntapluS is going to enter more cities and is establishing cooperation with many yoga communities and practitioners to help yoga fans gain strength and understanding from exercising.

Its yoga apparel brand is designed to better suit Asian consumers' physiques, with prices that are only two-thirds of the market's leading brand.

Adam Zhang, founder of the Key-Solution sports marketing and consulting agency, said in order to win over the yoga community, AntapluS has to focus on improving product quality, awareness and recognition rather than affordability alone.

"Consumers who are interested in yoga have strong purchasing power," said Zhang. "They are not price sensitive groups but care more about product quality."

The yoga market in China is booming. IResearch said in a report that the 2018 yoga market in China has reached 32.2 billion yuan ($4.68 billion), boosted by growth from yoga vertical products such as apparel, yoga mats and other equipment.

The research shows that new yoga participants continue to emerge.

About 57.8 percent of yoga practitioners have less than one year of experience. Spending habits of consumers who practice yoga tend to remain steady and are expected to last longer.

The world's leading yoga apparel maker, Canada-based Lululemon Athletica Inc, had 22 stores in China as of February 2019. It posted strong growth in the first financial quarter of the year ending on May 5.

Its net revenue reached $782.3 million, an increase of 20 percent compared to the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year. Its comparable store sales increased 6 percent on a quarterly basis.

Lululemon Chief Executive Officer Calvin McDonald is optimistic about the Chinese market. "The company will continue to see strong momentum across the entire business in China," he said.

For the 2019 fiscal year, Lululemon expects net revenue to be in the range of $3.73 billion to $3.77 billion based on total comparable sales increase in the low double digits.

Statistics from Euromonitor International show that performance apparel, which includes all items specifically designed to facilitate practicing different types of sporting activities such as yoga, are rising sharply in China, and will be worth an estimated $9.3 billion in 2023 from $5.9 billion in 2018.

China's sportswear market is forecast to post strong momentum, said Euromonitor International, ranking No 2 after the United States by market value. In 2018, the sportswear market in the US was valued at $117 billion and will grow to $138.2 billion by 2023. The number was $40.5 billion in China in 2018 and is expected to hit $58.1 billion in 2023.