Nike's Logistics Analysis

NIKE

Background

Nike Inc. was founded on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1978. It is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier as well as the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment based in the United States .It has contracted with more than 700 shops around the world and has offices located in 45 countries outside the United States. Most of the factories are located in Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and Malaysia. Apart from manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high profile athletes and sports teams around the globe, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just do it" and the Swoosh logo.

Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Skateboarding, and subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. Moreover, it sells a deep assortment of products, including shoes and apparel related to sports activities such as association football, basketball, running, combat sports, tennis, American football, athletics, golf, and cross training for men, women, and children. Furthermore, Nike sells shoes for outdoor activities such as tennis, golf, skateboarding, association football, baseball, American football, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, aquatic activities, auto racing, and other athletic and recreational uses.

Marketing channel summary

Acting as a manufacturer, Nike distributes its products to two different marketing channels (physical stores), which are specialty apparel retailers (22 in total in HK) and authorized dealers (86 in total in HK),in the hopes of saving distribution costs.

As mentioned, Nike is not only a manufacturer but also a retailer. Possessing company-owned stores, Nike is able to offer its products for sale under entirely control of them.

Additionally, with the growing importance of online shopping, Nike operates an online-store for fulfilling the consumers’ needs and wants. Little difficulty is here in understanding why the accessibility of Nike’s products is so high with the use of various marketing channels.

Company-owned stores

When it comes to acquiring a pair of Nike shoes, getting them from a Nike shop will come to our minds.

Surprisingly, there are only 3 company-owned stores all over HK, located in Causeway Bay (Nike Sportswear Store and Nike Sogo) and Tsim Sha