Nike’s shift to D2C gives other sportswear brands an opening: Adidas, Reebok, Allbirds, and more are jockeying to take Nike’s place on store shelves.

For example, both adidas and Puma pledged to stop using Xinjiang cotton due to the alleged use of forced labor in its production—but a recent report from German researchers found traces of the material in products from both brands, despite the former saying it no longer sourced cotton from China.

Adidas’ revenues from China fell by 35% YoY, which forced the brand to lower its fiscal expectations for 2022. The ramifications from the lockdowns were wide-ranging as its store traffic declined significantly even in areas not directly impacted. The big takeaway: The Chinese government’s pandemic response has highlighted the consequences of relying on China as the world’s factory.

Brands such as adidas and Levi’s have dedicated storefronts on Amazon, while Birkenstock and Nike have pulled off the platform. The question of whether retailers should distribute on Amazon ultimately comes down to whether the platform can provide incremental sales without eating into their bottom lines.

Adidas is suing fast-fashion giant Fashion Nova over the sale of a sneaker that the athleisure company alleges mimics the design of its iconic “Stan Smith” shoe, per Bloomberg. What this means: Brands with enough brand equity can raise their prices without alienating consumers, as well as force retailers that stock their products to make concessions.

Adidas. Adidas plans for D2C sales to account for 50% of its revenues by 2025. The brand is among the most popular on social media and has used one of the biggest influencers around—Kanye West—to stay on the leading edge of pop culture and break through the noise.

ThredUP currently has 28 brand clients, including Walmart, adidas, and Madewell, per its earnings call. Poshmark’s “Brand Closets” program lets brands open a storefront on the platform to sell directly to consumers. The big takeaway: For fashion resale platforms to succeed, they must be able to maintain an engaged and loyal user base.

An adidas NFT collaboration with Bored Ape Yacht Club, which also paired digital and real-world goods, sold out on the day of its release in December 2021, taking in more than $22 million. Many non-fashion brands have used NFTs to offer new experiences to consumers, foster loyalty, and experiment with new commerce models.

Archive, Recurate, Reflaunt, thredUP, and Trove are among those offering white-label solutions for brands. thredUP’s resale as a service business has more than 20 clients, including Adidas, Gap, Madewell, and Rent the Runway.

Here’s how publishers are developing and expanding their ecommerce monetization strategies, and how brands and retailers can partner with them to drive purchases in the affiliate channel.

One consumer-facing application comes from Mojo Vision, which partnered with Adidas Running, Trailforks, Wearable X, Slopes, and 18Birdies to improve the delivery of data for athletes through AR feedback during the workout or event. The company is also working with the FDA on an early application to help people with visual impairment by using enhanced image overlays.

Nike, lululemon, Adidas, Patagonia, and Yeti are among the brands that will capture their fair share of D2C sales. Peloton recently launched an apparel brand that will parlay its digital fitness cachet into incremental holiday sales. Click-and-Collect Leaders. Multichannel retailers known for click and collect will reap a windfall from last-minute and delivery-anxious shoppers.

Similarly, adidas and Puma both posted surges in D2C sales across Europe in 2020. For most traditional brands, a shift to direct sales is just one aspect of more ambitious omnichannel plans. For example, Armani is developing an advanced D2C offering as part of its Next Era project.

One consumer-facing application comes from Mojo Vision, which partnered with adidas Running, Trailforks, Wearable X, Slopes, and 18Birdies to improve the delivery of data for athletes through AR feedback during the workout or event. The company is also working with the FDA on an early application to help people with visual impairment by using enhanced image overlays.

Intelligence spoke with Pooja Sethi, senior vice president and general manager of Resale-as-a-ServiceⓇ at thredUP, on how the retail ecommerce industry can enable consumers to buy secondhand clothing online. thredUP is an online consignment and thrift store where individuals can sell their used clothing and buy secondhand items from their favorite brands. thredUP has partnered with companies like Madewell, adidas

By the week of March 26, nearly all of H&M's stores were back in business, with sales down 23%. adidas, whose Q1 2020 net sales worldwide declined 19% year over year, noted a rebound at its retail stores in China during March. The sports apparel giant also cited that its ecommerce business in China outperformed its global growth of 55% during the same month.

“The agency I work for works with adidas,” Grow’s Staughton said. “The brand artists and athletes and cultural icons that it works with, and it could potentially bring those people into a room. It’s also designing really cutting-edge shoes and has a sustainability story. I think that's the real potential for brands. It's not necessarily just slapping an ad on it.

Premium athleisure brand Sylphlike Loli, for example, keeps its prices below the RMB 300 ($43) threshold, in contrast to Nike and adidas. Cosmetics brand Perfect Diary, which caters more to the skin tones and concerns of consumers in China, has been stealing market share from L’Oréal’s Maybelline in recent years. These digitally native brands understand that consumers in China are not a monolith.

Prominent brands like adidas have also produced short films to mark the holiday. Family togetherness and traditional values, with a twist of modern societal dilemmas, have been popular themes, with subtle branding messages only to be revealed at the very end of the film.