Puma India Shifts Focus to Premium Products and Key Sports Categories
Puma India is focusing on premium products and key sports categories for growth, shifting away from discounted business and closing some stores.
Puma India is undergoing a significant transformation under the leadership of its new managing director, Ramprasad Sridharan. The company is shifting its focus towards premium products and key sports categories, such as running, sports style, hybrid fitness, and team sports.
Sridharan, a former state-level player and sportswear executive, has taken the reins at Puma India after joining in December last year. He has a career spanning more than two decades in footwear and fashion, including senior roles at Reebok, Clarks, and Benetton.
Puma has grown its India business about fourfold in the past decade, with revenue of about ₹3,200 crore and sales of slightly under 11 million pairs of footwear in FY26.
| Revenue | Sales | | --- | --- | | ₹3,200 crore | 11 million pairs |
The company is now focusing on running, which accounts for almost 30% of sales in its retail stores. Sridharan believes that running has become a nuanced category, with consumers increasingly buying different shoes for everyday runs, tempo sessions, races, and recovery.
| Category | Sales Percentage | | --- | --- | | Running | 30% |
Puma's pitch is that consumers can access its global products in India at the same time as other markets. The company does not want to win by being the cheapest, but by offering products that deliver value.
However, Puma's strategy comes as Nike, the world's biggest sportswear company, faces a much tougher global backdrop. Nike shares have fallen about 78% from their November 2021 peak and hit a 12-year low this week.
Puma's other big fitness bet is Hyrox, a competition that combines running with strength exercises. The company is the global partner of Hyrox and sees the sport as a way to push hybrid fitness and potentially another footwear category in India.
| Partner | Category | | --- | --- | | Puma | Hyrox |
Then there is cricket. Puma's partnership with Royal Challengers Bengaluru has become an important part of its team-sports business. The RCB business grew 75% this year and reached 1.8 billion viewers across 30 countries. The authentic RCB jersey sold out three times.
| Business | Growth | | --- | --- | | RCB | 75% |
Puma has about 400 stores in India after shutting roughly 20-25 outlets during the reset. Some stores were closed because they were unprofitable. Others were consolidated because the company decided that fewer, larger stores could provide a better experience.
| Stores | Closed | | --- | --- | | 400 | 20-25 |
Online already accounts for roughly half of the business, staying between 49% and 51% for several years. Meanwhile, about 75% of Puma products are now made in India, up from about 49% in 2023.
