Malte Karstan’s Post

Read the last sentence first pls: Nike may have beaten the street with its fiscal year Q3 earnings, but it’s hardly taking a victory lap. Acknowledging that this was a “difficult time” for the brand, CEO John Donahoe told Thursday’s earnings call that some adjustments are in store, and that further distance from its direct-to-consumer initiatives may be necessary. https://www.pymnts.com/earnings/2024/nike-continues-to-distance-brand-from-d2c-push/

When Nike gave up control of its listings on Amazon in 2019, customers started to ask questions regarding Nike products offered on Amazon being legit. Clear: different listing quality, low rankings, bad picture quality etc.

Also Liran Hirschkorn is throwing in interesting data, confirming perspective of the main thread here: Between June 2023 and May 2024, Nike did over $780M in sales on Amazon. All of it came from unauthorized sellers who took over the massive gap left by Nike's departure from the platform, resulting in inconsistent pricing, branding, and customer service. It's a hard lesson to learn: Withdrawing from major marketplaces only results in a loss of control. Thank you Liran Hirschkorn

Amazon is extending its reach at both entry-level price points and the luxury goods market simultaneously. First, CNBC and others reported that Amazon held an invite-only conference for Chinese sellers in late June, where they introduced plans for a new section on Amazon.com to compete directly with Shein and Temu. Now, CNN Business and others reveal that Amazon is investing, along with HBC, in the acquisition of Neiman Marcus to establish a collection of iconic luxury names, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman. From the beginning, Amazon has aimed to be the everything store, and now it’s rapidly becoming the everything store for everyone. Given regulatory approval of this proposed merger, virtually every consumer brand will likely need to reconsider their channel marketing plan to include Amazon in the mix.

"Ergo, the only outcome of Nike‘s move ending relationship with Amazon 1P / 3P was: loosing control over a marketplace that once had been so significant for the entire business." --> Couldn't agree more. Products of every mass-market brand always find their way on the platform, just that the brand has no control over them any more. When i search on Amazon for Nike sneakers already today, there are 3000 results, more than 1000 sold by Amazon directly incl. Prime Badge. 🤷♂️

Nike gave a very poor effort the first time around. The selection was thin, the merchandising was terrible and they didn't try very hard. Their store was terrible with low resolution photos. All around it looked like they didnt care to put any effort into it. Meanwhile Adidas has killed it on Amazon and eBay. My thought at the time was that they weren't seeing many sales because their product selection was fairly poor and they weren't using it to liquidate products like Adidas does. One thing that I never saw mentioned at the time was that most likely, most Nike products on Amazon were coming from sellers that were flipping deals they found at nike outlets. I had a client that would sell thousands of nike items at a time and being a flipper myself in that time, I'd see things all the time that I knew came from the outlets since I was at the outlets at least once a week.

I completely agree with this prediction. I remember when they pulled out of selling on Amazon. At the time I was a few years into my selling journey on Amazon and was just starting to see some real success of my own. At the time I remember thinking I can not believe they are pulling out and that it seems short sighted. But what do I know? I was just a young man with little to no retail experience. I ended up rationalizing their decision by thinking they were too big to fail and they could control the brand’s identity and distribution without Amazon. Fast forward 5 years and I must say every time I see the stock price and the financial struggles Nike is having I always think back to this decision. I think Nike took the easy way out. I agree with you they will be back on Amazon and they will need to invest heavily in the space.

So… 1. This is a prediction that you feel confident about - not a closed deal (yet)? Would be an interesting move though. 2. Are you basicslly saying that leaving Amazon is the only reason Nike’s share price was down and returning to Amazon will fix it…? Seems a little (over)simplified?

I looked up the original post and am unsure: is this an official announcement or a prediction? 🤔

Für mich immer noch komplett unverständlich wieso sich Unternehmen in dieser Größe nicht sauber auf Amazon aufstellen. Sich dann aber über Plagiate und Fälschungen wundern 🤷🏻♂️ und sich dann auf Seller verlassen, denen die Marke Nike total egal ist, Hauptsache die Marge stimmt. Die Quittung hat ja Birkenstock auch bekommen 👴