Nike’s Sale on Website Has Boomed Significantly, ‘Digital Is Here to Stay’, Says CEO

Nike’s booming online sale through their website and app is the proof of the digital revolution that ecommerce businesses have been going through. Online stores have been one of the biggest bets of Nike and it seems that it has paid off well.

Nike has been shifting their fund from departmental stores and other wholesale outlets to their own small neighbourhood stores, which they call “Nike Live”. These stores act as pickup hubs for online stores. There are some other flagship locations too called ‘House of Innovation’. Nike has also been testing their latest concept “Nike, Rise” in Guangzhou, China. In these locations, customers can use their Nike app to sign up for local soccer match or running club.

Even after reopening their stores, Nike’s online store’s sales have seen a heavy spike of 82%, thus exceeding the limits expected by the analysts. This increased revenue has helped Nike to continue their research for new products and keeps them ahead in the market.

“Nike’s decision to evolve into a digital-first organization has proved prudent, as the crisis continues to push consumers toward the digital channel,” Susquehanna analyst Sam Poser said. “Digital momentum is sticky. … [And] Nike has embraced the structural shift of consumer shopping habits from traditional brick-and-mortar to digital and will, in our view, continue to capitalize on this shift.”

The shares of Nike have seen a rise of about 9% this Wednesday morning. This was an all-time high.

Before the pandemic started,Nike set a goal of having their ecommerce sales represent almost 30 % of their all the revenue by 2023. However, the ecommerce sales have already exceeded that limit and online sales are said to have crossed the 30% goal set by the company. It is being said that now Nike is aiming to cross the 50% goal for upcoming years.

“The accelerated consumer shift toward digital is here to stay,”CEO John Donahoe said. “Digital is fuelling how we create the future of retail.”

“Nike’s digital transformation strategy is not easily replicated,” he added. “Simply put, scale matters, and Nike leads.”

It not just Nike that has been such a rise in their online market but other companies too. Recently, Walmart announced hiring almost 20,000 seasonal employees to help the company in packaging and shipping process of all the online orders. This sudden increase of online sale has also promoted and opened new job opportunities for job seekers around the globe.

Sports apparel companies are experiencing a sudden increase in the sale during the pandemic as more and more people are trying to better their health while being locked down in their home.