Footwear giant Nike is trying out a new business playbook to meet the needs of brand-loyal consumers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"We've seen a lot of success digitally," Heidi O'Neill, president of direct to consumer at Nike, told Cheddar. "We're leveraging the strength of our digital ecosystem to create millions of connections with consumers around the world who want to stay healthy and maintain their physical and mental wellbeing."
The company is offering its Nike Training Club Premium subscription service for free. The app offers workout sessions with "master trainers" teaching everything from yoga to weight training.
O'Neill said Nike has focused on putting out workouts that people can do indoors.
"We're publishing all sorts of workouts, but we're paying real close attention to the workouts that people care about now, workouts such as stretching, mindfulness, big workouts for small spaces," she said.
Nike is also streaming workouts for free on YouTube. A recent video featuring Kirsty Godso, a New Zealand native and fitness trainer, drew 800,000 viewers. She's set to lead another class on Saturday.
Last week, 10,000 million people around the world did a workout with Nike, according to O'Neill.
As for its retail locations, Nike is piloting contactless pick-up and contactless pay at Chinese stores and plans to bring those same conveniences to U.S. stores, which have been closed since mid-March.
To some degree, O'Neill said, changes to consumer preferences could stick around after economies reopen.
"What we're seeing in China is that some of consumers' preferences and behaviors during the crisis actually don't change," she said. "Consumers have a new expectation and love for the convenience of working out at home. Consumers are staying online and shopping digitally even as stores reopen."
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