Nike Wants to Open 200 Stores Despite 38% Revenue Drop
revenue has declined 38 per cent in the fourth quarter, but that’s not stopping Beaverton from planning 150-200 smaller-footprint stores in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Despite the , the brand has experienced strong digital growth in the quarter (75 per cent), prompting a new phase of its consumer direct strategy, with three key areas of acceleration: the creation of a ‘marketplace of the future’, the realignment of product categories for a new consumer construct, and further investment in digital.
The new stores will be part of this consumer direct approach. Constructed in the image of the Nike Live concept, the stores are planned open across the next couple of years, adding to Nike’s flagship stores, which boast many of the same digitally enabled experiences.
Nike’s execs say digital represented nearly 30 per cent of the company's total business in Q4, and original plans for digital to reach 30 per cent penetration by 2023 are now set to be hit in 2021.
‘The global pandemic has made it clear that consumer behaviour is changing rapidly, providing the opportunity for us to accelerate the pace of our transformation,’ says CEO John Donahoe. ‘Over the past few years, we have shifted from a legacy, wholesale distribution model to investment in a model that gives our consumers a more premium shopping experience.’