Along with Thursday’s announcement of a forthcoming follow-up to the Hyperadapt, Nike revealed more interesting product and retail news in their investor call, including making official its speculated partnership with online retailer Amazon.
Chairman Mark Parker explained that the brand is “looking for ways to improve the Nike consumer experience on Amazon by elevating the way the brand is presented and increasing the quality of product storytelling. We’re in the early stages, but we look forward to evaluating the results of the pilot.”
Amazon isn't the only new platform the brand is exploring. Brand president Trevor Edwards revealed that Nike also entered into “a new partnership with Instagram that will allow consumers to purchase Nike product seamlessly in the Instagram app,” with the aim of better integrating the Nike+ ecosystem where their consumers already are active.
In what shouldn't come as a major surprise, the brand’s three new cushioning platforms in VaporMax, React, and Zoom X are just getting started. The innovations will soon be seen across sports and brands, and are already racking up performance accolades. Not only was Zoom X present for the fastest marathon time in history, it overtook the podium at the Boston Marathon, being worn by five of the six top runners.
On the basketball front, to coincide with its new NBA licensing deal, Nike has “never-before-seen technology in NBA apparel on the way,“ according to Parker. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving still reigns supreme when it comes to performance basketball sales, but the Paul George line has also been a major success. According to Edwards, it became “the hottest shoe in the market with incredible sell-through.” He credits the success of these two lines with driving market share in the $100-$150 price range.
And while no specifics were offered, Edwards also suggested that the brand has a major sustainability initiative on the way, which will be “brought to scale through some of our most iconic footwear styles.”
