'HRX will explore offline retail opportunities after the pandemic'

For all the challenges and struggles that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has brought, it has really sensitised people towards the importance of hygiene and good health. This has been reflected in the growing popularity of categories like athleisure, workout equipment, bicycles, etc., since last year. Fitness apps alone have seen an average spike of 20% since February, while sports goods companies like Decathlon have seen an impressive jump in the sale of workout equipment in the last one year.

And this has prompted HRX, an activewear brand co-owned by actor Hrithik Roshan, to venture into the market with its own bespoke range of fitness equipment. 

Speaking to exchange4media.com regarding the move, HRX Co-founder & CEO Afsar Zaidi said, “This (sports & workout equipment) was our plan since the inception of the brand HRX (launched in 2013). But the last year really compelled us to invest in the category as the global trends indicated a huge growth potential in the sector.”

He is aspiring to drive at least 10-15% of the brand revenue that touched Rs 500 crore last fiscal with this new category.

The Launch Strategy

The brand will be launching a series of products over the course of the next six months, including dumbbells, yoga mats, cycles, skateboards, and sporting equipment for badminton, football, basketball, volleyball, etc.

Head Marketing & Operations Pallavi Barman said while the plan was to launch everything together once the situation normalised in the country but the covid-implicated restrictions forced them to make it a phased launch.

She shared, “As much as we wanted to wait and be up and ready for a grand launch with all the products in place, the situation did not permit us to do that. Because of the extended lockdown, we were seeing gaps in the production volumes and several products were not ready to match the quantity we would have liked for the launch. The imports and exports, too, are impacted. So, we decided to go ahead with a step-by-step launch, introducing products like dumbbells and yoga mats in June. Our alloy cycles, on the other hand, will hit the market by the end of this year.” 

On being probed about the marketing and sales strategy for the brand, Zaidi said it will be a low-cost launch from the marketing point of view. For sales, they are relying completely on Flipkart right now and might want to explore the offline market when the Covid situation eases in the country. 

He highlighted, “We have been a successful brand because of our partnerships with Myntra and Flipkart and we would rely on the same for the fitness equipment range as well. There are no plans to activate our own digital D2C channel right now. As far as offline retail is concerned, we will explore the possibilities once the pandemic is over. We will sit down with our team at HRX and our partners at Flipkart to analyse if it will be fitting to have an offline presence too.”

Marketing Plans

About the overall brand marketing strategy, Barman elaborated, “We tend to spend 3-5% of our overall revenue on marketing. And considering we have clocked Rs 500 crore last year in revenues, it makes for a substantial amount. Hrithik (Roshan) is investing a lot of time and energy into the brand, which adds a certain extra value to it. However, for this series of launches, we have curated a low-cost strategy keeping the current situation in mind. We are focussing on digital and performance marketing mainly for this.” 

Additionally, the brand is planning to invest in a robust print and social media marketing strategy. Zaidi also added that the brand will be launching a music video soon. 

He added, “We also have a great league of brand custodians, people who work on the brand, and also influencers who have a unique voice of their own. We rely a lot on them to market this brand.”

What’s Beyond

Not just the personal fitness and sporting category, Zaidi hinted that the brand is also looking forward to expanding its presence in other popular and relevant categories like nutrition and technology & data.