There are Nike stores, and then there are Nike stores. But regardless of whether you visit a House of Innovation, a Nike Live location, or the new, massive Nike Rise store in Guangzhou, China, those stores are going to connect you in various ways to the community of running and sports enthusiasts who constitute Nike’s target market.
The Nike Rise concept store offers a clear example of how Nike tries to create a sense of community among shoppers. With the general assumption that most visitors to the three-story, 22,000-square-foot store already have downloaded its popular app, it organizes weekly athletic activities. Sports enthusiasts can sign up for workshops or group workouts through the app, then meet at the Nike Rise store to get expert advice and to link up with potential exercise partners. If they have not yet downloaded the mobile app, the fun offered by the store is likely to encourage them to do so, which in turn adds them to the retailer’s loyalty program.
At a “personalization bar” in the store, they also can order and receive jerseys and tote bags with logos of local sports teams, emblazoned with any name they choose. A few steps away, they might enjoy watching broadcast games and matches by local teams such as the Evergrande Taobao Football Club, gathering together with other fans to cheer on their favorites.
Similar to its House of Innovation flagship stores and smaller, interactive Nike Live locations, the Nike Rise store offers personalized fit services too, which feature high-tech scanning devices that analyze users’ feet and offer recommendations for which shoes, in what size and width, will best suit their physical characteristics. Although this technology has been more widely available internationally at Nike Live stores, Rise represents the first time it has been introduced to Chinese consumers.
In addition to connecting with consumers, and enabling them to connect with one another, these novel store concepts are strongly connected to Nike’s popular digital channels. By opening more of these experiential stores, it hopes to ensure omnichannel growth, in line with evidence that ultimately, digital channels account for about 30 percent of its revenues. That is, by giving customers a compelling, personalized, enjoyable, digitally linked in-store experience, Nike has realized it actually can enhance its ecommerce sales.
Discussion Questions:
- Why does a great in-store experience lead to enhanced ecommerce sales for Nike?
- Why might Nike have opened its first Nike Rise store in China?
Source: Tom Ryan, “Nike Debuts Member-Driven Concept,” Retail Wire, July 15 23, 2020; Cara Salpini, “Nike Opens Latest Store Concept: Nike Rise,” Retail Dive, July 10, 2020; Samantha McDonald, “Nike Unveils a New Kind of Store in China—Take a Look Inside,” Footwear News, July 8, 2020.