Covid$-19$ lockdown had a significant impact on Nike in line with others in the consumer

and fashion industry. Nike, a global brand with $1,100$ shops, closed more than half of its stores in

China as early as February to safeguard its staff, and by mid$-$March, it had decided to close all of

its stores in the United States as the virus swept across the country. Even those establishments

that had remained open, foot traffic had decreased dramatically. In the aftermath of the

coronavirus outbreak, Nike Inc. is doubling down on efforts to expand its online operations, with

plans to bolster its own e$-$commerce platforms while expanding collaborations with key retailers

like Foot Locker Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. to increase digital sales.

Experts believe the measures will help Nike to become more agile and digitally focused

in the wake of a pandemic and forced store closures across North America, Europe, and China,

which resulted in a reduction in revenue and a net loss in the company$$s most recent quarter.

Even before the pandemic, the global athletic apparel behemoth profited from a burgeoning

internet company, which grew as customers switched online during the months that stores were

closed.

Nike$$s aim of having $50\%$ of its sales come from digital channels is a tall one, but

analysts say it$$s achievable because the company anticipates digital sales will account for $30\%$ of

revenue in fiscal $2021,$ two years earlier than expected. Nike$$s internet sales rose $75$ percent

despite a $38$ percent dip in total sales in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Nike E$-$commerce app

has been downloaded over $8$ million times since February, and income from the SNKRS app

surpassed $$1$ billion for the first time in fiscal $2020.$ In the fourth quarter, Nike added $25$ million

new members, half of whom came via exercise apps.

Even after two years in such tense situations while reopening its stores with either full

capacity or reduced hours, Nike says it will have a material problem. It will take a hit just like its

peers. Mainly this hit is due to a lot of Nike store closures have caused stalled shipments to their

wholesalers which indeed end up causing losses which are only set off by the strong online

demand that has yet not dwindled. The stalled shipments caused significantly lower wholesale

revenue and higher inventory stagnation.

Covid$-19$ helped Nike by fast forwarding its digital strategy and focusing on their long

term goals of going digital instead of digital being just another revenue channel. At the same

time, it did take a huge hit towards its traditional revenue channels and thus one cannot conclude

yet that whether it was a Boon or a Bane. However, one thing that has remained constant is that

Nike has been able to keep its leadership position as the market leader with over USD $145$ billion

as its valuation.

Questions

$1.$ Discuss what do you learn from the experience of Nike which responses to the threats of

changing external environment?

$2.$ Would you recommend Nike to continue using the digital strategy to reach global market?

Explain with your opinions.

$3.$ If you are marketing manager of Nike, how will you make branding Nike in the emerging

markets?