Creating a bespoke inventory and fulfillment experience to increase Nike SB’s sales.

We designed an experience that allowed independent skateboard shops in LA to create their own digital storefront and populate it with a bespoke Nike inventory. Customers could then purchase the items in-store and get them delivered within the hour.

Nike asked us to increase their retail footprint in a new and interesting way. To do so, we designed an experience that allowed independent skateboard shops in LA to create their own digital storefront and populate it with a bespoke Nike inventory.

Customers could then purchase the items in-store and get them delivered within the hour. The result? A double digit sales increase, enhanced brand engagement, and a brand new, scalable hyperlocal retail solution.

A new inventory model and customer experience

If smaller skate shops are to survive in the retail industry they need to cater for every type of skater – male, female, young and old. That means they need to offer every type of shoe, in every size, colour and style. But right now, they are under threat as local shops struggle to compete with giant stores (and stockrooms).
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Our challenge was to help skate shops give their customers the product range and delivery experience they expected, while also helping Nike to quickly meet these demands and maintain market share.
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By combining new distribution technology with a redesigned digital experience we enabled skate shops to offer customers a huge range of Nike SB sneakers in various styles, colours and sizes without having to physically stock them in the store.
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This meant local, independent businesses could compete with the larger retailers, without the financial risk of an overstocked inventory.

The scalable in-store experience

We identified key consumer behaviours during a detailed but fast research and strategy phase. This also included technical discovery, research into new distribution methods and business models, and the data, insight and planning to inform the best cities to kick off the programme.
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We settled on five skate shops in Los Angeles and designed and built the end to end experience including supporting marketing material.
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Central to the experience was an app for each retailer, in their own branding. It is built in a way that allows Nike to quickly roll the product and experience out to new shops, and quickly scale, helping the retailer serve the customer, support their sales needs, and support Nike’s business objectives.
This app allows the retailer to present considerably more of the Nike SB catalogue and inventory to the customer in a fast and convenient way.
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The customers can then order the sneakers they want in store, there and then.
No more stock issues, resulting in more happy customers.

A business first delivery model

As soon as the customer completes the order in store, the nearest Nike SB fulfilment centre is notified. They then process the order and have the sneakers delivered to the customer in less than two hours (within a 12 mile radius), rather than several days.
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We partnered with a new last mile delivery business called Darkstore to handle fulfilment and created delivery hotspots.

These hotspots are specific locations, chosen by each shop, where customers can have their sneakers dropped off – such as local businesses or skateparks.

Customers can also enter any address, as long as it’s within the fulfilment center radius.

A retailer of the future

Our work opened up entirely new experiences and locations for Nike and the participating retailers. We helped a global business to innovate within the confines of a traditional retail model and think differently about how they can support their customers, as well as the end consumer.
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We are now planning to scale this entire experience to other cities and other shops, while also looking at ways to enable geo-located drops for events.

All to help Nike to continually serve and support the grassroots skating scene.

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Creating a bespoke inventory and fulfillment experience to increase Nike SB’s sales.

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