- Nike is aiming for a retail comeback by reducing discounts and focusing on full-price sales.
- CEO Elliott Hill plans to shift away from heavy discounting strategies.
- Nike will prioritize running, basketball, training, football, and sportswear categories.
Nike is trying to make a comeback in the retail space. Its new approach involves offering fewer discounts.
Veteran employee Elliott Hill took over as CEO of the sports giant in October 2024. Hill had left in 2020 after over 30 years at the company, and the Nike he returned to was struggling to regain its former dominance in-store. Sales were also falling.
Nike’s plans include walking back some previous business strategies, like offering discounts or shifting its attention away from its relationships with wholesalers.
That will mean fewer markdowns on Nike styles, starting this spring, as the company strives to provide an “elevated” experience for shoppers, Hill said during an interview with Fortune.
Hill told Fortune that Nike has become “too promotional,” and it’s hurting the business. Nike started the fiscal year with a 50-50 split of full-price and discounted items, he said during the second-quarter 2025 earnings call in December.
“Being premium also means full price. We’ll focus on promotions during traditional retail moments, not at the consistent levels we are today,” Hill said then.
He told Fortune that discounting is “not great for margin; it’s not great for the brand; it’s not great for our wholesale partners.”
In the months since he became CEO — succeeding John Donahoe — Nike has also made it clear that it’s getting back to its roots as an athletic wear brand.
In the future, Nike will prioritize five categories: running, basketball, training, football, and sportswear. Hill told Fortune he’ll work to repair relationships with wholesale retailers after Nike distanced itself from them to focus on its direct-to-consumer business.
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