Here is your official recap of the adidas Campus 80s StockX IPO.
Source: The adidas Campus 80s StockX IPO Recap – StockX News
A few weeks ago, prior to the adidas x StockX launch of the 80s capsule I wrote that the collab between adidas and StockX was not going to work. I gave compelling data to suggest that StockX’s market had shifted to fewer sneakerheads and more mainstream customers:
Why the adidas MakerLab Limited-Edition Campus 80s x StockX IPO is Flawed for Both StockX and adidas
I said that the launch was flawed, but the reality is I wanted people to read my post and understand what it meant for small retailers and small chains already dealing with the Nike CDO issues. I wanted the launch to be flawed because,
If … this IPO goes off without any problems and is successful it becomes a case study for how adidas could shift their release options away from under-performing accounts. I think maybe that I’m hoping that this IPO is flawed. Traditional retail is already facing considerable pressure from Nike’s Consumer Direct Offense. If adidas, who hasn’t introduced a strategy for DTC/growth, finds a partner in StockX it could send another shot through traditional retail.
StockX is still a private company so the report they just wrote on the IPO could be skewed. I’m not in a position to pull back the curtain, but I can make a few comments and predictions to create dialogue since no other sites are looking at the seriousness of an all digital launch from a major brand to a third party platform.
According to StockX the IPO was a success. That makes this launch a harbinger that is akin to Nike giving small retail outlets every major release as long as they took on all of the Jordan Brand releases and apparel. The Nike play is what led to the demise of many small accounts. adidas’ play has given them a textbook for working with a digital outlet that just gave them the value of releasing 3000 pair vs the actual 999 pairs dropped.
Get it?
10 Reasons Why This Was The Biggest Drop of the Year
- The Campus series like the Continental 80, Samba and Stan Smith, retails at between 80-100 dollars. The Continental 80s dropped to offer those who couldn’t nab the Kanye Calabassas an alternative at a fair price. Actually the Continental was a planned GR at the under 100 target where adidas has continued to see growth. The problem is the Continental didn’t sell. adidas, contrary to all popular reports, in the U.S. has hit a considerable wall and is only now after two years finally beginning to recover. The shoes are on considerable markdown. You can grab the Continental 80 at both urban and traditional retail stores for 29.99 a pair (9.99 with a 20 dollar VIP coupon). adidas’ margins are razor thin due to a glut of inventory at wholesale accounts.
- adidas didn’t just hit a wall at retail, they lost the wall. In 2015 and 2016 adidas dominated wholesale accounts so much that Jordan Brand was pushed to the back of the wall and adidas was given the front of the store in Finish Line and Foot Locker stores. Today adidas has been shifted to the back of the store. Nike is back at the front of the store and the adidas wall has been reduced to make room for Vans, Fila and New Balance.
- adidas’ Pharrell products the adilette and Solar Hu releases are following the Tennis Hu drops from Pharrell and sitting. The endorsers of adidas are no longer delivering sale through like they did a few years ago when scarcity was king.
- Above I wrote that the StockX IPO generated the value of releasing 3000 pair of shoes. The number of pairs is not significant, but when you consider research done by Housakicks on Yeezy drops before adidas began releasing the products in large numbers they were dropping 2000 pair at a time. If StockX agreed to this IPO at seller level 4 for adidas, they charged adidas 11% per transaction. When adidas sells a drop to retailers they are at 50%. adidas possibly netted 89% on a drop through a third party digital outlet. There wasn’t any shipping involved. The shoes were created and shipped straight to the customer at a markup up from the retail of 80 bucks for a Campus to the price, “Across all three sneakers, the average clearing price was $205, and the average number of Bids was 3308″ (StockX).
- That 3308 number is for each individual colorway which means adidas could have possibly sold 10,000 pair of shoes in this drop. If you’re a retailer reading this, especially a small retail outlet, this is more than the allotment of shoes you receive from adidas in a general release. The scariest part of this is StockX hasn’t even hit the growth that it could reach.
- The StockX IPO could open the door for something I discussed in my book on StockX. adidas could plan a series of IPOs throughout the year with StockX and StockX could function as a fulfillment center. This removes inventory from adidas’ coffers and allows for a seamless experience for StockX shoppers who often worry about fakes. The shoes wouldn’t have to be authenticated expediting the speed of delivery taking away the one wall StockX has in customer satisfaction.
- adidas created this drop in the Makers Lab. This means that a product was conceived, designed and launched in under 3 months. The traditional production process for footwear is 6 months to a year. This reduced cost for the Campus 80s series. As I’ve already stated the shoe never had to ship to wholesale accounts. While this isn’t DTC, it’s about the closest thing to DTC.
- Retail outlets are notorious for backdoor relationships that leave customers frustrated. This launch was even across the board. Everyone wasn’t going to win, but bots were useless. Yes, the price of the shoe is prohibitive for the everyday consumer, moms buying kicks for their kids, but that is not the point here. This was a strategy to drive adidas sales at the high end. Which leads me to one of the biggest points.
- adidas just had a Yeezy drop moment without Yeezy. The rapper/designer/businessman is erratic and relying on Yeezy to create the narrative of adidas placed the company in a precarious position. The brand just found a way to bring the focus back to the brand and the designers. Had adidas simply used their own platform to launch this designer series, it would not have accomplished the same results. This would have been a slow sell through because adidas lacks the internal structure for storytelling and reaching the customer willing to pay 205 dollars for a 80 dollar pair of kicks not named Yeezy.
- I’ve repeated this throughout, not one retail outlet was needed to sell a limited release product not attached to a famous entertainer or athlete. In my book I stated that retailers needed to begin functioning like brands. Since they don’t have their own private labels to create stories around, they needed to create content for all of the brands they carry. StockX delivers the story of the shoe via their news section on the site. They then carry the story to their social media pages. The build interest around the products with engaging content and imagery. If StockX had a physical location they would have had a line for an adidas shoe made by Helen Kirkum… Helen Kirkum ain’t Ye and she didn’t have to be… and this could happen every month and it wouldn’t burn out the masses. The IPO report was written on October 23rd. Since then the Kirkum 80 has had been resold at a markup of 162.8% above retail. The demand for the model is still there. The demand is still there.
I’m not saying this is as big as Nike’s CDO, but an all digital drop just happened without any big names attached to it on a model that retails for 80 dollars.