American sportswear brand Nike is no longer selling its products on Amazon. This brings to an end a pilot that lasted no less than two years. “Nike does not need Amazon”, analysts agreed approvingly.
Counterfeits
Two years ago, the brand began to sell directly through the American marketplace, mainly to prevent the sale of counterfeit products on Amazon. The sports label is now announcing the end of that collaboration, in order to focus on a more direct sales approach. Analysts are of the opinion that Amazon does not really add value to Nike, given the brand’s digital efforts with attractive online platforms. The last few quarters have all been about Nike Direct’s strategy; last quarter the company reported a 42 % growth in its online business.
By taking sales into its own hands, it can also monitor brand integrity much better. “Nike cares more about brand presentation than consumer reach. They do not need distribution just for the sake of distribution,” an analyst from Wells Fargo explained to Retail Dive.
The ‘break-up’ between both companies only relates to the sale of products: the sports brand will continue to use Amazon’s Cloud services for its website and apps.
