The Paris Olympics 2024 has proven to be a significant win for Nike, as the global sporting event has boosted demand for the sportswear giant’s new launches and helped it edge out competition in the online shopping space, according to data from research firm Similarweb.
From July 26 to August 1, Nike and Puma saw an increase in online visits to their direct-to-consumer sites, while Adidas, Hoka, and On experienced a decline compared to the previous week, Reuters news report said. Visits to Nike.com website peaked on July 31, reaching 2 million, following U.S. gymnast Simone Biles’ seventh Olympic gold medal after the United States earned their third gold in the women’s team event.
Out of those visits, 86,900 resulted in a sale on Nike.com, whereas Adidas.com saw 532,500 visits with only 3,600 likely converting into purchases. “If the athletes and teams sponsored by Nike continue winning, their popularity will likely boost conversions through the rest of the Olympics,” said Daniel Reid, Senior Insights Analyst at Similarweb.
Nike was a dominant player across the board, but leotard maker GK Elite got the most significant lift, at least partly due to its sponsorship of gymnast Simone Biles. GK Elite’s total traffic rose more than 75 percent in a week.
On the day of the Olympic Ceremony, Hoka doubled their conversions on the prior Friday with Nike jumping around 37 percent.
For Nike, sales rocketed on July 31, perhaps boosted by Simone Biles and the Team USA gold medal in the all-around final on July 30. Nike sponsored the Team USA gymnastics team by providing apparel and so the athletes will have been seen in Nike tracksuits and footwear during the event.
Nike has invested heavily in this year’s Olympics, more than any previous games, aiming to revive sales and compete with emerging rivals. CFO Matthew Friend announced in June that Nike is reinvesting nearly $1 billion in consumer-facing activities in fiscal 2025, including product launches and expanding its sports marketing portfolio during the Paris Olympics.
Nike, as the official sponsor for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic team, launched a range of products, from Jordan 4 Retro SE shoes to an Olympic Electric Pack featuring 55 shoes, including new designs of Alphafly 3 and Pegasus, which have captivated consumers.
On resale platform StockX, the Jordan 4 Retro SE Paris Olympics Wet Cement, retailing for $225, were traded over 8,373 times by the end of July, becoming the highest-selling Olympic product on the site. Nike’s paid search on “nike team usa” alone brought in about 2,500 clicks.
Despite Nike’s strong performance in the Olympics, the brand has struggled this year compared to rivals such as Roger Federer-backed On, Deckers Outdoor’s Hoka, and Adidas in the running, performance, and casual shoe categories due to challenges in bringing innovative designs and some strategic missteps.
Amazon.com drew traffic from 2,850 organic and 250 paid searches related to “olympics” and “olympic,” which likely drove additional sales for some of the brands mentioned above.
Similarweb Shopper data on trends within the amazon.com platform shows that product searches on “olympics” were up 361 percent the week of the opening ceremony and search clicks were up 342 percent, for a total of 27K search clicks.
