According to a report by Bloomberg/Businessweek, Asics Corp is aiming to almost double its sales in the coming five years, and plans to compete against Nike and Adidas by offering more lower-priced running shoes.
An Asics finance executive, Toshiyuki Sano, speaking at the company’s headquarters in Kobe, Japan, said “We want to offer simpler entry-level models. We can’t expand by focusing on the medium-to-high end of the market anymore.”
Asics will reportedly introduce more entry-level models with a recommended retail price of around US$60.
“We want to attract entry-level runners,” Sano added. “If that base grows, so will sales of our higher-level models.”
The company’s lowest-priced shoe in the US, where Asics has an estimated 13% share of the running market, is the GEL-Maverick 3. This retails for US$50, according to the Asics website.
Sano noted that shoes priced under US$75 currently account for about 10% of Asics’ athletic- footwear sales.
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