Nike Online Sales Revenue Up 14% on Air Max Day 2019, Orders Up 16% Over Average

Vintage Designer Shoe, Nike Air Max 1/97 VF SW, Most Popular Item Sold Online

Key Takeaways

• Air Max Day revenue and orders up 14% and 16% over average Tuesday numbers

• Nike.com revenue has grown 20% since February 2018

• However, Air Max Day 2019 was not as successful as 2018

• The most popular item sold online at Nike.com during the sale was the Nike Air Max 1/97 VF SW Men's Shoe, winner of the Nike “Vote Forward” contest in 2017

More and more companies are creating their own tradition of once-a-year, celebratory sales “holidays,” in the vein of Amazon Prime Day; Wayfair’s Way Day, which we profiled last year, is one example. However, Nike was doing its own brand-created holiday in style before either of them (before it was cool). Nike launched its first Air Max Day in 2014 to celebrate its flagship athletic shoe, introduce new styles, and offer sales. Air Max Day 2019 took place on March 26th and delivered a new twist, with Nike asking shoppers to donate sneakers to its partners in the “Give Fresh Air” initiative. Did the event on Nike.com pay off in online sales? How has Nike been doing in general, given that it’s been six months since the debut of their controversial Colin Kaepernick ad campaign? To find out, Edison Trends examined the data that came out of the most recent sales effort.

How have sales on the Nike.com website been trending over the past year?

Figure 1: Chart shows revenue, orders and customers by month for Nike.com during the period of January 1, 2018 - April 1, 2019, according to Edison Trends. "1x" signifies "1x the amount in January 2018." For instance, if Nike.com had $100 in revenue in that month, they would have $147 in February.


Comparing March 2019 to March 2018, revenue from sales at Nike.com increased by 19%, and orders were up 20%, with 21% more unique customers. March 2019 orders were also up over February 2019 by 9%, with 13% more unique customers shopping during that month, though revenue fell by 4%. This was better than last year, when all metrics fell or stayed the same from February going into March.

Comparing last month to August, before the Colin Kapernack ad campaign launched, Nike.com revenue has increased by 18%, and orders by 14%. The number of unique customers during the month was up 12%.

How did sales perform at Nike.com on Air Max Day 2019?

Figures 2a and 2b: Chart shows revenue, orders and customers by day for Nike.com during the periods of March 1-26, 2019 (figure 2a) and January 1 - March 26, 2019 (figure 2b), according to Edison Trends. "1x" signifies "1x the amount on the first day depicted on the graph." For instance, if Nike.com had $100 in revenue on March 1, they would have $109 on March 2.


On March 26, Air Max Day 2019, over three thousand items were on sale at Nike.com. Compared to the average Tuesday in 2019, revenue for the sale was up 14%, and orders were up 16%. There were 26% more unique customers on Air Max Day than on the average Tuesday prior to the sale. However, it was not the highest-ranking Tuesday this year for any of the metrics; for instance, on Tuesday, February 5, revenue was 18% higher than on Air Max Day.

Overall, Saturdays are the best days for Nike.com in terms of revenue and orders, and most Saturdays this year outperformed Air Max Day.

How did this year’s Air Max Day sales perform compared to last year’s?

Figure 3: Chart shows the estimated percent increase or decrease in revenue, orders, customers, and spend per order, comparing March 26, 2019 with March 26, 2018, according to Edison Trends.


Comparing Air Max Day 2019 to Air Max Day 2018; revenue was down 40%, orders down 37%, customers down 28%, and customer spend per order down 4%, from $138 to $132. However, the proportion of new customers increased from last year. In 2018, 28% of Air Max Day shoppers were new to making a purchase at Nike.com. In 2019, that proportion increased by 11% (3 percentage points) to 31% of customers being new to the site. While we cannot say for certain what caused this drop in most categories, 2019 was the first Air Max Day where Nike didn’t premiere any special releases.

The most popular items purchased online from the Nike.com website on Air Max Day 2019 were:

1. Nike Air Max 1/97 VF SW Men's Shoe

2. Nike Air Max 270 Men's Shoe

3. Nike Sportswear Heritage 86 QS Adjustable Hat

4. NikeLab x Acronym ® Air VaporMax Flyknit Moc 2 Men's Running Shoe

The Nike Air Max 1/97 VF SW Men's Shoe was the reported winner of the coveted 2017 Vote Forward contest hosted by “The Swoosh.” Los Angeles vintage store co-owner Sean Wotherspoon designed and won the international challenge to reimagine the future of Nike Air Max, his kaleidoscopic corduroy sneaker said to be inspired by vintage hats from the ’80s.

As the market evolves, we will continue to stay on top of the latest trends. To learn more about how Edison Trends can help your business, contact us at bizdev@edison.tech. For more up-to-date insights in the e-commerce space, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on Twitter at @EdisonTrends.

*The data shown is based on a sample of anonymized and aggregated e-receipts from millions of consumers in the United States.