The days of being able to purchase Nike products at DSW are indeed numbered.
The Beaverton, Oregon based athletic giant announced the cessation of the selling of its products in DSW stores , which is just the latest chapter in the company’s march toward refining its direct -to-consumer offensive.
Back in September, Nike CFO Matthew Friend said the company has “exited about 50% “of its retail partners since announcing their focus on DTC back in 2017. Nike will look to sell their wares in their own stores and websites and reduce their out-of-company retail efforts to focusing on relationships with just 40 retail partners, among them Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker.
The move by Nike to focus on selling more through their own channels boils down to one motivating factor – increased profits. Nike can generate more than two times the profit by selling their products themselves as they would selling wholesale to retailers. It also allows them tighter price control and keeps their goods from being overly discounted.
For DSW, Nike products accounted for 7% of their sales in 2020, but the brand will seek to fill that void by focusing on growing sales across other athletic brands. In a December 7 analyst call, DSW CEO Roger Rawlins said “we are getting strong results across our entire athletic portfolio.” will that portfolio continue to contain adidas remains to be seen as Adidas is taking a similar path to their Swoosh-clad competition, as they to are placing more of an emphasis on their direct-to-consumer efforts.
