Written by

Bernard Marr

Bernard Marr is a world-renowned futurist, influencer and thought leader in the fields of business and technology, with a passion for using technology for the good of humanity. He is a best-selling author of 20 books, writes a regular column for Forbes and advises and coaches many of the world’s best-known organisations. He has over 2 million social media followers, 1 million newsletter subscribers and was ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top 5 business influencers in the world and the No 1 influencer in the UK.

Bernard’s latest book is ‘Business Trends in Practice: The 25+ Trends That Are Redefining Organisations’

View Latest Book

Follow Me

Bernard Marr ist ein weltbekannter Futurist, Influencer und Vordenker in den Bereichen Wirtschaft und Technologie mit einer Leidenschaft für den Einsatz von Technologie zum Wohle der Menschheit. Er ist Bestsellerautor von 20 Büchern, schreibt eine regelmäßige Kolumne für Forbes und berät und coacht viele der weltweit bekanntesten Organisationen. Er hat über 2 Millionen Social-Media-Follower, 1 Million Newsletter-Abonnenten und wurde von LinkedIn als einer der Top-5-Business-Influencer der Welt und von Xing als Top Mind 2021 ausgezeichnet.

Bernards neueste Bücher sind ‘Künstliche Intelligenz im Unternehmen: Innovative Anwendungen in 50 Erfolgreichen Unternehmen’

View Latest Book

Follow Me

How Nike Is Using Data to Sell Directly to Customers

24 March 2022

Nike is successfully transforming from a traditional consumer goods business into a digital direct-to-consumer company. Find out how Nike’s DTC sales have skyrocketed as the company focuses on big data and predictive analytics.

How Nike Is Using Data to Sell Directly to Customers | Bernard Marr

Leading footwear and apparel company Nike has been ahead of the game for years, inspiring millions of other companies to follow their strategies for accelerating growth.

Now, nearly 60 years after its founding, Nike is not just an innovator in sports science – they’re also leading the way in using artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to sell directly to consumers.

In June 2020, Nike announced the launch of its Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy to speed up direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales.

Their initiatives are clearly working. In 2011, DTC sales accounted for 16% of Nike brand revenue (or $2.9 billion of the total revenue of $18.1 billion). By the end of the 2020 fiscal year, DTC sales had grown to 35% of overall sales, or $12.4 billion.

This bump in DTC sales is driven by Nike’s new formula for growth, which focuses on building a data-centric organization that can compete with existing e-commerce giants like Amazon.

Let’s take a look at how Nike is making the successful transition to direct-to-consumer sales and how data science fits into their plan to enhance the customer experience and boost profits.

A Wellspring of Customer Data

Nike offers sales support, workouts, training programs, and loyalty incentives through a large array of apps. These apps allow Nike to optimize the consumer experience, but they also provide Nike with a veritable treasure trove of incredibly valuable customer data.

The Nike Fit app creates a digital picture of a customer’s foot using a combination of computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning – then uses that picture to make informed product recommendations to the consumer. Long term, this intelligence on people’s feet also helps Nike create better shoes!

Nike uses their data to serve customers more targeted offers, including products and services. Through the Nike Plus rewards program, customers can get access to personalized workouts and sports experts.

Predictive Analytics

Nike acquired two predictive analytics companies – Zodiac and Celect – in 2018 and 2019, respectively. These solutions help Nike crunch data from their apps and from IoT devices like Fitbits and use that data to understand customer habits and predict purchasing behavior. For instance, Nike now incorporates Zodiac’s marketing data into its app to serve up personalized content and make product recommendations.

Using Celect’s inventory management tools, Nike can now anticipate consumer demand and determine what products they should produce and where those products should be sold. Nike's hyper-local approach to inventory management ensures the customers can always find what they need and be able to purchase the items they're most interested in.

Making Data-Driven Decisions at the Highest Levels

Nike’s data analytics systems are fully integrated, so business leaders can use predictive data – including purchase patterns and social media behavior – to anticipate customer needs, create better products and services, and improve business processes. Every member of Nike’s senior leadership team has access to a personalized analytics dashboard and data visualization tools that are customized for their decision-making needs.

Nike’s Data-Driven DTC Initiatives

As new startups continue to enter the apparel industry, Nike has chosen to defend its mega-giant status by investing heavily in Big Data and AI to better understand its customer journey and capitalize on DTC revenue streams.

Business Trends In Practice | Bernard Marr
Business Trends In Practice | Bernard Marr

Related Articles

Personalization Pitfalls: 5 Common Mistakes To Avoid For Effective Marketing

Targeted mass marketing was developed by direct mail businesses in the 1960s and 1970s to enable customers to be segmented by age, geography, or income.[...]

How To Upgrade From Data-Driven To AI-Driven Marketing Analytics

We’re told that data is the key to business success. But how do we go about turning data into money?[...]

How to Make AI Work in Your Organization

As the world continues to embrace the transformative power of artificial intelligence, businesses of all sizes must find ways to effectively integrate this technology into their daily operations.[...]

The 3 Biggest Digital Threats And How To Protect Yourself

Our digital footprints are bigger than ever. We bank online. We shop online. We order the Friday night takeaway from our phones.[...]

The Decision Dilemma: How More Data Causes Anxiety And Decision Paralysis

Every business needs data to make decisions that drive growth, streamline operations and improve profits.[...]

What Tech Trends Should Companies Focus on in 2023? Here Are Three to Consider (And One to Ignore)

It’s common to hear it said that today, in order to thrive, every business needs to become a tech business.[...]

Stay up-to-date

  • Get updates straight to your inbox
  • Join my 1 million newsletter subscribers
  • Never miss any new content

Social Media

0
Followers
0
Followers
0
Followers
0
Subscribers
0
Followers
0
Subscribers
0
Yearly Views
0
Readers

Podcasts

View Podcasts