Nike trials subscription for kids' sneakers

Sports brand Nike has launched a subscription for kids’ sneakers in the United States, trying to increase convenience for parents… but it is also an attempt to secure some market share.

Different shoe sizes

With its new subscription service ‘Adventure Club’, Nike tries to address one of young parents’ pet hates: having to go shopping because their children have outgrown their shoes again. The service for two to ten year olds offers a pair of sneakers per month (or two or three months, depending on the level) for 50 dollars (or 30 or 20, respectively). The monthly amount is around 45, 27 or 22 euros respectively.

The service aims to increase customer loyalty, as Nike struggles with heavy competition from its main rival Adidas and resurgent retro brands like Reebok and Fila. The total worth of the American children’s shoe market is estimated to be around ten billion dollars (nine billion euros) per year.

Project manager Dave Cobban told Reuters that the main challenge was how to provide parents with the right shoe size, despite the continuously growing feet of their little ones, while both cancelling the need for frequent store visits and for a large number of returns. The pilot store with 10,000 members showed that a fridge magnet (included in the subscription fee) with a size chart was a great help, that reduced the number of orders with the wrong shoe size by two thirds.