Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike reported its four-quarter earnings on Thursday and made clear that expanding its sales to women will remain a big focus. Structurally, the company is simplifying the way it organizes it offerings from an array of performance and lifestyle categories to three simple silos: men’s, women’s and kid’s.
Nike CEO John Donahoe also noted that it wants to accommodate a customer preference for a seamless buying experience that marries online and in-store capabilities. He explained, “We’re committed to providing and we’re committed to providing those through; first and foremost, our own digital capabilities, as well as our own digital stores, both factory or I’m sorry, own physical stores factory and direct.”
As part of its efforts to create an omni-channel experience, the brand announced it will open 150-200 small footprint, digitally-enable Nike stores with a particular focus on expanding its reach to women in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The stores will be modeled after the brand’s Nike Live concept stores in Shibuyo, Tokyo, along with Melrose and Long Beach, California. While the focus of each store varies by location and is designed to reflect the community, all four stores carry a wider-than-typical selection of women’s merchandise and offer workouts, bra fittings and other programs, which can only be accessed through Nike’s SNKRS app.
“We have been testing this format with Nike Live and have a great understanding of how to best deliver this experience,” Donahoe explained, “And so we will proceed ahead this year with more tests and learn examples of it and scale it through the next couple of years.”
On its earnings call, Donahoe noted there was room to grow its share in the women’s apparel market. He noted, “We have less than 10% of the women’s apparel market in the U.S. Women’s grew this quarter, two times the rate of men. And this will allow us to align our organization and focus our resources more directly on that opportunity, as well as on others.”
