Nike’s emphasis on selling directly to consumers is showing continued success, with 36% growth during its first quarter ending Aug. 31, compared with the same period last year. The athletic goods and apparel retailer and manufacturer, No. 27 in the Internet Retailer 2018 Top 500, also touted strong sales via other online sellers, such as marketplaces.
“Nike Digital was once again our fastest growing channel in each and every geography,” said chief financial officer Andy Campion on a call with investors, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. Regionally, the Chinese market saw particularly strong growth with 40% more online revenue year over year.
Nike is moving from a pilot program to ongoing sales through Indian online marketplace Flipkart, owned by Walmart Inc., No. 3 in the Top 500. Nike also recently announced it would start selling products through Walmart-owned Jet.com. This expands on its offerings through Amazon.com Inc. (No 1), which CEO Matt Parker said is performing well and has shown “really good sell-through on a limited selection of products that we’ve offered.”
In other e-commerce earnings news:
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Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (No. 60) currently generates more than 10% of its total revenue from online sales, putting its second quarter e-commerce sales over $293.5 million, the retail chain reported for the second quarter ended September 1. “The vast, vast majority of the sales online come through Buy Buy Baby or Bed Bath & Beyond,” said CEO Steven Temares in an earnings call transcribed by Seeking Alpha. “The other concepts are a small component of the overall online sales.”
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Privately held Neiman Marcus (No. 24) announced a 12.5% increase in online revenue for the fourth quarter ending July 28, which makes online sales account for 36% of overall revenue, or $406.8 million. Total comparable revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% to $1.1 billion.
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Bluestem Brands Inc. (No. 23) reported a 10.9% decline in sales for the first quarter compared to the same period last year to $381.1 million. The online retailer behind Fingerhut.com and other e-commerce sites completed the shutdown of its Draper’s & Damon’s retail store locations and exited PayCheck Direct and LinenSource businesses. These closures bring its comparable decline to 5.1%.
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Avon Products Inc., which spun off its U.S. business as New Avon LLC (No. 327) in 2016, is investing $230 million in transforming its digital business internationally according to an investor day presentation. The beauty product retailer plans to upgrade everything from its core backend systems to digital marketing. Avon recently released apps to help its at-home sellers improve sales, including one that suggests makeup based on skin tones.