Adidas, just like other sports retailers, have had to adjust to the changes the world has been experiencing. In what is a difficult time for retailers in general, Adidas Ecommerce has produced a bight opening for a ‘reacceleration’ as business picks back up.
Adidas cut it’s marketing budget by 25% in the second quarter with the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and Euro 2020 being put on hold. The sportswear giant posted a 35% fall in revenues to €3.6bn in the three months to the end of June, with sales at the Adidas brand down 33%.
The lockdown period proved to a be a very positive period for Adidas, as they saw sales double. In the first quarter, more than a third of its sales across its own and partner businesses were digital, with sales up 93% in the second quarter and by triple digits during April and May.
“The lockdown has led to a step change in digital penetration,” said CEO Kasper Rorsted, speaking about the results.
“Digital is and will continue to be our most important commercial and brand driver. And we leveraged our entire digital ecosystem in order to nearly double ecommerce sales in the second quarter.”
Adidas ‘Ready For Sport’ campaign played a key part in driving sales, as the campaign has recorded more than one million views on YouTube. CFO Harm Ohlmeyer said that Adidas ‘doubled down’ on their digital marketing activities, however the success of Ecommerce was down to that.
“We doubled down on digital marketing in order to remain connected with consumers around the world, add new members into our ecosystem and support our ecommerce growth. Without that investment, we would not have been able to grow 93%,” he explained.
Another key factor towards the success of Adidas Ecommerce efforts, was the use of it’s training apps which tripled between March and May. With gyms being shut, many have turned towards apps to keep on top of their fitness activity. Sales directly through the adidas app quadrupled in the year to-date, compared to 2019.
“A customer we know is a more valuable customer,” says Rorsted. “We again added millions to members in the second quarter, which will contribute to future commercial success.”.
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