Dive Brief:
- Two years after Nike connected its loyalty program to Dick’s Sporting Goods, the athletics retailer launched a connected rewards membership with Hibbett.
- The loyalty program gives shoppers new benefits and experiences when they buy Nike and Jordan products from Hibbett, according to a company press release. Those include a welcome offer, members-only products, personalized content, discounts on Nike products, experiences, Nike and Jordan outfit bundles, and more convenience.
- Existing loyalty members can link their Hibbett and Nike accounts and new members can register for an account before linking the two. As a result of the partnership, Hibbett’s app, email marketing and online rewards page will be refreshed. Hibbett loyalty members do not earn rewards points at Nike’s stores or website.
Dive Insight:
Nike is leaning into its wholesale partners to grow its loyal customer base, this time with Hibbett. The athletics brand started the experiment with longtime partner Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2021, and has since released its largest joint ad campaign with the retailer. More broadly, Nike in recent months has emphasized its desire to build out better experiences with some of its key wholesale partners.
“We've really sharpened our wholesale focus over the last few years to focus on fewer multi-brand partners where we're investing in elevated retail experiences and connected digital membership at scale,” CEO John Donahoe said on a Q1 earnings call in September, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. “And so that's [Dick’s Sporting Goods], JD, Zalando, our partners in China. We've got a great launch with Pro Direct, Hibbett will come online with connected membership in October. And so we think there's a lot of growth opportunity with those strategic wholesale partners.”
Nike said in the first quarter that member engagement in its DTC business was up double digits year over year, and members are making up an increasing share of its sales. Although Nike has pushed its business toward more direct-to-consumer sales in recent years, the company has also looked to strengthen its ties with select wholesale partners — and has even returned to some retailers it previously backed away from. During a discussion earlier this year on the balance between wholesale and DTC, Vice President of Nike Direct Daniel Heaf said the retailer doesn’t much care where sales come from.
“We don’t really mind where our consumers choose to engage or interact with us,” Heaf said in May. Instead, Nike is aiming to work with its wholesale partners to give customers “the fullest possible experience” when they shop outside of Nike.
“People always ask me: Are you a direct business or a wholesale business? And the truth is we’ve chosen both,” Heaf said at the time. “We’ve chosen both because it allows us to serve every single athlete with distinction and uniquely across the entire marketplace.”
