By: Obi Anyanwu

U.S. Polo Assn. has debuted a new global site, uspoloassnglobal.com, which will roll out in about 100 countries over the next 24 months.

The new site, which was developed with language translation companies TransPerfect and Nansen, features sections dedicated to the product, telling the brand story that dates back to 1890, news about the brand and ad campaigns. USPA collections will also be available, and those looking to shop offline can browse the brand’s global retail footprint of more than 1,100 stores.

The brand is available in 180 countries, with more than $1 billion coming from its international business. The new site launched localized content first in the U.K. and will first roll out in English-speaking countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, followed by Italy, Germany, Japan and Latin America. In addition, the site is projected to be operational in 15 languages by late 2020.

J. Michael Prince, chief executive officer of U.S. Polo Global Licensing, said the brand achieved double-digit growth in the last year through brick-and-mortar locations and expects that, with the global site launch, “to move the needle from less than 5 percent of revenue from e-commerce today to double digits in the next few years.”

“In 2019, we launched an integrated digital marketing campaign across multiple platforms to increase brand awareness, drive engagement and increase visits to our sites, which have doubled from the prior year. And we’ve seen double-digit revenue growth from the prior year, directly driven by these digital initiatives. With the launch of the global web site strategy, we are targeting double-digit growth of e-commerce revenue in the next few years,” he said.

U.S. Polo Assn. in 2018 reached $1.7 billion in global sales due in part to its international business in India, China, Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. This year, the brand expanded into “90 percent of the world’s countries,” Prince said.

The updated global site is a precursor to “an aggressive growth agenda” that includes more than 500 new stores, bringing the total number of stores to 1,500, and $2.5 billion in global sales by 2025. Prince also shared plans to operate a total of 750 retail stores in India by 2025, where the brand operates 360, and increase its retail footprint in China to 500 stores.

“At the moment we are one of the first apparel brands to launch WeChat commerce and are one of the fastest-growing brands on Tmall,” he said.