Peloton Plans for International Expansion In Europe

Over the past year, Peloton has been on a mission to tighten its financial belt and return to a positive cash flow. As they edge closer to achieving this goal, the company is starting to cast its gaze towards the possibilities of expansion once more.

Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference, Peloton’s CEO, Barry McCarthy, shared insights into the company’s growth plans, particularly on the international front.

McCarthy first emphasized Peloton’s recent efforts to enhance the efficiency of their existing international markets. He stated, “International growth is on our radar. We’ll delve deeper into this topic in the coming quarters. We’re already present in the U.K., Germany, Australia, and Canada. In the past fiscal year, our primary focus was on trimming operating losses in these markets, rather than pushing for expansion.”

However, McCarthy hinted at a shift in strategy now that Peloton has streamlined its operations. He mentioned that they are contemplating entering new markets and countries in Western Europe. He noted, “We’ve made significant strides in this direction, and in the upcoming fiscal year, we intend to pivot towards growth, primarily in our existing markets, along with a few additions in Western Europe, thanks in part to the relaunch of our digital app.”

It’s worth noting that McCarthy’s reference pertains to the next fiscal year, implying that these plans could unfold between July 2023 and June 2024.

Interestingly, Peloton recently revamped its Peloton App with a fresh brand identity, new pricing tiers, added rowing content, and more. McCarthy’s remarks suggest that Peloton might be considering a novel approach—introducing the app in a new country as a standalone offering. This would mark a departure from their previous strategy of bundling the app with hardware sales.

As Peloton places greater emphasis on the app and welcomes users who don’t own Peloton hardware, we may witness Peloton’s entry into a new country by simply making the app available for download, without an initial hardware launch. Presumably, Peloton could assess the app’s performance in different countries and use this data to determine whether to introduce hardware sales there.

While McCarthy didn’t specify any countries apart from “Western Europe,” it’s plausible to speculate that they might be eyeing France, Spain, and Ireland as potential candidates for expansion. Spain stands out as a logical choice, given that Peloton has been offering Spanish-language classes for over two years and recently added a Spanish language display option to the app. Northern Ireland already falls under Peloton’s umbrella, being part of the UK, making the Republic of Ireland a feasible expansion target. France, although less likely, has seen rumors about Peloton’s interest in the past, with mentions of potential French language classes and job postings seeking French and Spanish-speaking employees for an International Expansion Team.

Australia was the most recent country to receive Peloton services, officially launching in July 2021.

Now, the question is: which country do you envision Peloton expanding to next?

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