Adidas, Puma – Place and Distribution

The goal is to make the product available to as many customers, in the fastest and easiest way as possible. Similar to the pricing both Adidas and Puma are using the same concepts when it comes to place and distribution. There are three main distribution channels:

Manufacturing à Own Retail Stores à End Customer

Manufacturing à Distributor à Multi Brand Retailer

Manufacturing àOnline Fashion Website / Own Website à End Customer

While their own retail stores and websites differ from each other, the way their products find its way to the multi brand retailer are very similar. The distributor who connects the manufacturer and the multi brand retailer could work both ways meaning that a multi brand retailer might seek out a manufacturer or that the manufacturer uses selling agents to get their products to multi brand retailers.

Both Puma and Adidas have certain contracts with wholesalers or multi brand retailers who they would continuously supply with their products and some cases they would only supply those with a certain equipment or clothing line. A multi brand retailer may be stores like Sports Direct or JD Sports. However Adidas and Puma prefer to use their own retail stores for their newest products.

Own Retail Stores

Puma

Puma has over 600 of its own retail stores operating in more than 40 countries worldwide. With actual stores operating in 40 different countries the brand wants to get the product as close to its customers as possible but also wants the end-user to experience a brand enhancing shopping experience. Furthermore by being present in a specific retail location the company provide a credible brand image.

Puma Outlet in Herzogenaurach

In 2009 Puma constructed a massive building as its headquarters in its hometown Herzogenaurach which was mainly office buildings but also included a huge retail store. As being Puma´s headquarters the retail store located right next to it had to resemble the company´s typical values and shopping experience. This special factory outlet does not only offer the Puma shopping experience but also special deals that attract thousands of customers a year.

Adidas

Just like Puma, Adidas wants their customers to have a whole experience when it comes to shopping at their retail stores. Therefore the brand with the three stripes retails their products at 1700 concept stores worldwide. A concept store usually represents a retail store with a high quality selection and an extraordinary shopping experience with a close connection to the customers. Furthermore with 1700 stores it outnumbers Puma by a 100% and this excludes the 880 factory outlets. With over 2500 of its own retail stores Adidas makes sure that it is wide spread and that their customers have access to gain the whole Adidas shopping experience.

Just like their online presence in social media, some of their concept stores are divided into the three different market segments. This means that some of the stores would exclusively sell either Adidas Performance, Adidas Originals or Adidas Neo since each market segment is supposed to target different groups and give the shoppers a different shopping experience.

Not even one mile away from Puma´s factory outlet you will find the Adidas Factory Outlet in Herzogenaurach. Considering this Herzogenaurach is the Mekka of the sport world, with shoppers driving detours of hundreds of kilometres to visit.

Because of this Adidas has created a massive building only for retail that almost looks like the colosseum from the outside. This concrete building looks like a fashioned abandon factory from the inside which perfectly resembles the idea of being a factory outlet. Again this is done on purpose just to give their customers a different shopping experience. On the top of the building you will find a massive TV screen showing their latest adverts and football matches during the World Cup and the UEFA European Championship.

E-Commerce

Like mentioned in an earlier post the whole world is turning online. Most people are continuously hooked up to the world wide web and with more and more people shopping online rather than going out to buy what they need or desire. It is easier, faster and more comfortable and has a wider and better reach to more customers than a physical shop. The UK Centre for Retail Research suggests that E-Commerce is the fastest growing retail market in Europe.

Numbers show that in Europe alone, online sales were expected to increase from 132.05 billion GBP in 2014 to 156.67 billion GBP in 2015 (Centre for Retail Research, 2014).

No wonder if one considers that e-commerce is by far the easiest distribution channel for both, the producer and the consumer with a direct link between them. Furthermore costumers can read others reviews and their shopping experience which could replaces the need to see and test the product in real before buying it.

Adidas

With 600 million euros in revenue in 2015, Adidas can be more than pleased and seems to be doing something right.

The men´s shoe department itself features over 1140 products which is a bigger variety than you could fit in most stores, offering the product in different colours and sizes. Additional to that Adidas has a section on its website where you customize certain shoes and even put your name on them. This service is only provided on their websites and nowhere else.

With a huge variety of products and a website that has a very easy structure and a beautiful overview, the brand literally invites one to do their shopping.

Puma

Now Puma´s revenue only through e-commerce was nowhere to find. However the company is investing more and more money on their online shopping website and improving their IT section which can be seen on their online shop. It has a beautiful overview and operates in over 50. This was the company can reach out more customers compared to their retail stores which only operated in 40 different countries worldwide.

Furthermore just like Adidas, Puma offers a wider range of options for their products with different sizes and colours and offers free standard shipping on orders over 60 GBP.