Peloton, the in-home cycling studio specialist, announced the company’s first foray into the international marketplace.
Beginning in Autumn 2018, Peloton will ship its indoor cycling bikes outside of the U.S. to the U.K. and Canada for the first time.
The current plan will follow Peloton’s U.S. strategy of selling direct-to-consumer through its website, www.onepeloton.com, as well as owned retail locations. At launch, Peloton is planning to open multiple retail locations throughout London and Toronto.
Peloton will also begin introducing British indoor cycling instructors to its world-class roster and is planning to launch a London-based studio in 2019. Peloton’s U.K. studio will not only allow a whole new slate of European content, but will also enable Peloton’s international members to experience more live classes on their schedules. The company is planning to expand to additional European markets in 2019.
New Leadership
Leading the global initiative is seasoned executive Kevin Cornils, who recently joined Peloton as managing director, international to lead the company’s expansion efforts beyond the U.S. Cornils will run the business from Peloton’s recently-opened office in London’s Kings Cross, its first outpost outside of the U.S.
“Over 60 percent of the $100+ billion dollar global fitness market is outside of the United States, and the U.K. is the world’s second-largest market,” said Cornils. “We were increasingly hearing from potential members from the U.K. and Canada who were asking for the bike, so we listened and decided to launch the full offering, including retail showrooms, to bring them the same best-in-class experience as we’ve been building out in the U.S. I am excited to join the passionate team at Peloton that has been innovating the fitness market in the U.S., and help them continue that success around the globe.”
Cornils was previously part of the early team that launched Match.com into Europe, where as MD, Europe he grew it into the largest player in the European market. More recently he served as CEO of Glasses Direct, where he grew the business 20x into a leading online optical retailer across Europe, with operations in the U.K., Germany and Scandinavia before overseeing its sale to Essilor International in 2016.
“We see enormous potential to disrupt the fitness market in the U.K., Canada and beyond and cannot wait to expand the Peloton brand and community globally,” said John Foley, CEO of Peloton. “Kevin is an experienced executive who deeply understands the international market, and we’re thrilled to have him on board to help us reach our next one million members.”
