Corona crisis can't hurt Nike

Sportswear giant Nike seems to suffer little from the corona pandemic. Even in a time of crisis, sales spurted almost a tenth higher, thanks to (Chinese) online shoppers.

“Shift is permanent”

Nike achieved a turnover of 11.2 billion dollar (9.2 billion euro) in the second quarter of the broken financial year, an increase of 9% compared to the same period last year. The increase is entirely due to the Nike brand itself, as trainer brand Converse lost some ground (-1%).

The sportswear group had to temporarily close its stores in many countries due to the corona virus, but this loss of turnover was amply compensated by the growth in e-commerce. Digital sales rose by no less than 84%. In China in particular, Nike saw enormous growth: for example, the Singles’ Day bargain festival alone earned the sports label more than half a billion dollars.

In the past quarters, the sports label had already achieved similar online growth. “The customer’s shift is permanent, and our digital presence in the market will only increase in the coming years”, says top executive John Donahoe.