Nike to tighten online sales in China amid 'fragmented' marketplace

By Danielle Kaye and Casey Hall

NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Nike is trying to lure back shoppers in China by controlling how its products are sold online, directing consumers to official Nike channels as the American sportswear giant continues to lose ground to domestic rivals.

By restricting wholesale distributors' online sales, the company aims to rebuild trust with Chinese shoppers and sell its products at full price, said Cathy Sparks, vice president and general manager of Greater China.

Starting in January, key sportswear retailers in China will stop selling Nike's clothing and shoes online and will instead pivot to in-store sales, Sparks told Reuters. Online, the company's products will be sold through new Nike-branded digital storefronts on the popular Chinese e-commerce platforms Tmall, JD.com and Douyin, along with Nike's website and app.

"Our marketplace has become so fragmented and cluttered," said Sparks, a 25-year company veteran who was appointed to oversee Chinese operations earlier this year. "What consumers want is an experience that's premium, true to the brand, trustworthy, and certainly connected between digital and physical."

The move runs counter to what most other major sports brands have done in China in recent years, expanding both online and in-store distribution to reach more customers in a market that has struggled for growth.

Chinese consumers have spent less amid a broader economic slowdown, leading to more discounts from brands across the consumer spectrum seeking to prop up sales.

CHINA SALES DECLINE PERSISTS

China, Nike's third-largest market, remains a key source of concern for the world's biggest sportswear brand. The e-commerce shift is part of a broader effort to revive growth.

Sales in Greater China fell 17% on a ‌constant-currency basis ⁠in the fourth quarter, the company reported last month, steepening from a 10% decline in the previous quarter. Fast-rising domestic rivals Anta and Li Ning have chipped away at Nike's market share, while foreign brands like On and Hoka have also surged.

Nike's China woes have reinforced for investors that CEO Elliott Hill's turnaround strategy still faces significant obstacles. In his nearly two years at the helm of the company, Hill has pushed to refocus on ⁠sports, rebuild wholesale relationships in North America and introduce new products.

The majority of Nike's 16 store partners in China, which own and manage thousands of Nike stores, will stop selling online, a Nike spokesperson said.

Major Chinese sportswear retailers Topsports and Pou Sheng both fell in early trading after the announcement, with Pou Sheng shares down 10% and Topsports shares falling a record 23%, wiping around HK$3 billion ($382.70 million) from the firm's market capitalization.

Topsports, which generates 22% of its revenue from online sales of Nike products, said in an exchange filing on Wednesday it expects "significant" short-term negative impact. In its own filing, Pou Sheng said online sales of Nike’s products accounted for approximately 15% of its revenue.

Both firms said they remain committed to continue working closely with Nike.

Following local news reports about the potential e-commerce change in June, BNP Paribas senior analyst Laurent Vasilescu said the move would be a "strategic misstep" and would hand opportunities to competitors.

"Nike doesn't have a distribution problem in China and elsewhere. It has a product problem," Vasilescu said in a research note in which he estimated the move could cost Nike $500 million to $1 billion in sales.

Releasing products that are more relevant to Chinese consumers is also among Nike's priorities, Sparks said. The company has appointed a vice president of local product creation in Greater China, she added.

($1 = 7.8390 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Danielle Kaye in New York and Casey Hall in Shanghai; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Kevin Buckland and Christopher Cushing)