Excluding sales at Li Ning Young stores, Li Ning performed better than a year ago during the third quarter ended in September, scoring a sales increase in the high 20s on a same-store basis at retail, compared with the low single-digit improvement recorded a year earlier. The company’s own direct-to-consumer sales at its physical stores went up by a rate in the low 30s and e-commerce grew in the mid-30s, while wholesale franchised distributors’ sales rose by a rate in the mid-20s. The actual retail sell-through jumped by a rate in the low 40s, with increases in the high 30s at own and franchised physical stores and in the mid-50s online.
The total number of Li Ning core stores in China rose by 99 during the three-month period, reaching a level of 5,803. There were 109 fewer units in operation than at the beginning of 2021, with decreases of 56 units in the direct channel and 53 units for the wholesale channel. The number of Li Ning Young stores increased by 96 units during the quarter and by 116 since the beginning of the year, building up to a total of 1,137 doors.
