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."

Share:
More In Business
Tony Awards draw best audience in 6 years for CBS
The Tony Awards on Sunday lured 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years. CBS says Monday that Nielsen data shows the telecast — hosted by “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — scored a 38% increase over last year’s 3.53 million viewers. That’s the largest audience for the Tonys since 2019, when the telecast that year nabbed 5.4 million viewers and “Hadestown” was crowned best new musical. The latest version also had to compete with the second game of the NBA Finals, between the Thunder and Pacers,
Apple unveils software redesign while reeling from AI missteps
After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during a developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology.
DA: Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing said he ‘had it coming’
Six weeks before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel last December, Luigi Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and expressed that killing the executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming."
Load More