Surprisingly, U.S. consumers preferred to buy Nike products on Amazon than at Foot Locker stores in the first half of this year. According to a new survey conducted by UBS among 1,000 American consumers, their preference for Amazon rose to 13 percent of the sample during the period from 10 percent in the first half of 2016, while their preference for Foot Locker fell to 9 percent from 14 percent.
Such a dramatic channel shift explains in part why Nike has finally agreed to work through Amazon's marketplace, as well as the recent disruption of the traditional sporting goods retail sector in the U.S. No data are available on Amazon's sales of sports brands or products in the U.S., but it is believed to be huge. On the other hand, the Swoosh still represented more than half of Foot Locker's total sales last year.
The UBS study, which covers Nike as well as Adidas and Under Armour, also indicates that the channel switch toward Amazon is happening at a similar rate as the shift toward the brands' own websites.
According to the study, the U.S. consumer's perception of the Nike brand remains in the top spot, but the perception level for Adidas is now almost level with that of Under Armour. UBS feels that Adidas has an upside because it can pivot to e-commerce faster from its less broad distribution base. In general however future purchase intentions are slowing down for the major brands.
