Following on from the release of more details of its “Grow Together Faster” strategy and what this actually means for the sports retailer Intersport, Corinne Gensollen, Chair of Intersport International Corporation (IIC) spoke to sport-guide.com about own-brand strategy, e-commerce and whether the strategy includes expansion or not.
Corinne Gensollen was made Chair of Intersport International Corporation in Sept. 2022, having previously been the CEO of Intersport France for more than five years. Her plans at the time included making the group “even more consumer-focused, more vertical and more efficient.” Frédéric Tain, Editor-in-Chief of sport-guide.com, shares the English-language version of his quick-fire interview with Gensollen here to see how this plan is progressing.
What is Intersport International’s vision for the future?
Corinne Gensollen: It’s our ambition to be the consumers’ first choice by introducing them to the benefits of sport for their health and well-being.
Why give up on the single-store model on an international scale?
There are several winning formats in several countries, and we’d like to have them all on the menu for everybody.
Every country will have the option to develop one, two, three or four models as it sees fit. Intersport International will guarantee that the models share the same Intersport DNA.
Will you be applying the “custom” idea to e-commerce?
We’ll be doing away with the global digital platform by the end of 2024 and opting for digital platforms dedicated to particular markets to make things more responsive and relevant to consumers.
What will your strategy be for IIC’s own brands like Energetics and McKinley?
Intersport International will continue to develop core brands and expand them so as to achieve gains in efficiency. Certain group countries will be creating complementary brands to match their expertise, and these will be offered internationally.
Finally, we’ll be developing our own brands under a circular economy model while keeping a close eye on consumer prices so as to maintain good value for money.
Who will be leading Intersport International’s transformation?
We’ve decided to entrust the operation to Steve Evers, the current CEO, who has all the right qualifications. We’ll be tightening our international organization around Steve Evers and a new generation of promoted executives.
We’re entering a new era by returning to our roots as a cooperative, placing our international structure at the service of our countries and retailers, favoring exchange and best practices, and watching out for successful local experiments.
Intersport International will be there to help countries implement the new consolidated strategy even as it allows them to preserve their local ways of responding to the specific expectations of their particular consumers.
Is the plan meant to lead to an expansion in the short term?
Right now, we’re operating with 5,400 stores in 42 countries. One of our objectives is to be the consumers’ first choice, but we’d also like to be the preferred partner for brands in all of our countries of operation. That’s why we’ll be temporarily suspending store openings in new countries and instead concentrating on carrying out our new strategy in all our current territories.
