There are a few things that I have to get out of the way when speaking with employees at sneaker retail.
- Nike/Jordan Brand runs the world and Yeezy is second
- You are not going to get a store full of Air Jordan 11s or Yeezy
- You will not get a customer excited to speak with you, because they love their phones
If every retail outlet simply got 1000 pair of Yeezy and Jordan 11s every month then the world would be a better place right? Wrong. Sales leads and store managers are quick to make the statement that, “If only Nike sent us more Jordan 11s,” or “if only adidas sent us more Yeezy…” When I visited the stores I immediately shut down that topic. I also shut down the thought that the stores don’t have enough product. Every store was quick to say they don’t have the right shoes. The employees all then added that X store is better than Y store because they have better product. This point of discussion remains the foundation of how many stores approach the justification of where their sales are. The reality is every store has over 500 styles on their sneaker walls. Stating that store X gets a better allocation may be true, but with over 500 options are people only looking for the hottest shoe? Or are people not being sold on other styles?
The truth is a bit of both and the primary issue is less about the right product and more about the complete dominance of Nike at retail. Nike occupies 80% of sneaker walls. If the right product is more of one hot Nike/Jordan Brand shoe then that is the issue isn’t it? I’m posing too many questions instead of looking at my Q&A with store employees. Nike’s dominance leaves very little room for other brands to stand out. Nike is growing and reaching new heights in revenue although they are decreasing relationships with wholesale accounts. Almost every store I visited was down on the year. Nike is up considerably. Jordan Brand just reported its first billion dollar quarter. Shouldn’t there be a trickle down?
Look at this sneaker wall. I wish this was a lecture so I could ask the question what’s wrong with this picture? Since it isn’t a lecture I need you to take note that this wall doesn’t feature any Nike product. This is significant for a few reasons, but one stands out: Merchandising. During my talk with the store employees they explained that it’s hard to explain to customers what certain shoes are. While many of the team members know that a Curry is a Curry and that a Harden is a Harden, they don’t know who DON is. Can you point out the DONs? The store employees also don’t really funnel anyone to this wall because it is basically thrown together without much consideration for each brand. Now look at the wall and count how many brands are in this one shot. How many did you count?
