What up, family! Hope you’re having a fantastic week. We’re continuing our direct-to-consumer conversation from Monday. DTC sales have been quite a double-edged sword.
It benefits these companies. But for us as consumers, it’s weird.
We all get a chance to buy everything because it’s all at one central place online.
But because of that, inventory is slim. And there are more people than ever chasing after these centralized releases on sneaker app X.
It’s definitely been more of a curse than a blessing, in my opinion. But I’m interested in what y’all think. How are we feeling about all of these companies adopting DTC sales strategies? Do we ever put the toothpaste back in the tube? Do we really need to? Let us know sumn!
Adrian mentioned a good point in terms of job security. On the other hand, I think DTC sales are good from a cost management viewpoint. I may need to read more on DTC to get better insights.
on one hand, DTC would (presumably) mean that there's more inventory to go around on SNKRS, Confirmed, whatever because those pairs aren't being shipped to retail partners.
on the other hand, I'd be out of a job (and probably will be!) when the big guns stop sending high-heat product to retail partners, because that means we have to make our whole bag off of...what? apparel? training shoes? DTC is gonna slowly suck the life, money and jobs out of retailers
I'd also say that, like, yeah, there's more inventory on those apps. But at the same time, now ALL of the people who would be going to different retail partners to try and cop a shoe are all coming to this single place. So are your chances really improving at all from that? Idk.
I think retail is likely going to shift toward more of the community stores and experiences. Concepts, for example, has done an incredible job of changing up the layout of the store for a new release. There can and should be reason to come to local shops for the experience and possibility of hitting on the release.
I should clarify that I work for a big-box retailer. I think smaller retailers and boutiques are certainly going to survive better, but in our case a lot of the benefit of having high-heat release product is that while they're shopping for Saturday morning releases, people will throw in the hook apparel or accessories or whatever. the weekend Jordan pairs don't generate a high profit margin, it's the other shit people buy that boosts margin. if people aren't being drawn to big retailers for the high-heat stuff because the brands aren't distributing it to retail partners anymore, it's a potential death knell for those retailers.
No, exactly. Look at the community stores here in NYC or even in LA that are supposed to be reflective of their neighborhoods. I'm also keeping on eye on the DTLR and Shoe Palace acquisitions and how those will be affected. Clearly all of that money was spent for specific plan of how bigger box retailers will survive. I'm also thinking of local hype releases, like the Manila Jordans. There are definitely still opportunities if we look to local.
DTC has been more of a curse than a blessing, in my opinion, because if you don't have a Bot your chances of copping a shoe significantly drop even if it's GR or not. And I've noticed at least in my area that the stores have been getting less & fewer shoes. Before I would walk into a store and impulse buy shoes but now there isn't anything in stores for me to cop SMH.
They know exactly what they are doing! We all buy right into it. Give it another year or two and Footlocker etc wont have access unless they figure out botting. Again though Nike could squash any of this at anytime. I'm sure they love all the hype
Love to see someone do something innovative with releases, like a 5 minute pre order window where anyone who gets an order within that period is guaranteed. Still hyped because it’s a one off period to get the shoes, plus some of these shoes are never not gonna be hyped any time soon.
I'm confused by the second bullet, why would inventory be slim? Inventory is growing but like you said, "more people than ever chasing...". Consumer demand is far out pacing the inventory and that is a storyline no one is writing about. How many people are trying to get a Jordan 1 today versus one, two, three years ago?
Yeah, this is the thing that I'm talking about. "Slim" is the wrong word for it. There's just so much demand on the market right now for certain silhouettes without enough supply to go around — even if numbers (relatively speaking) are greater.
Let's say Nike launches a new Travis Scott Jordan 5 with 30k pairs available on a FCFS basis via SNKRS. There might legitimately be a million trying to cop. That's a madhouse.
So you're right. It's not necessarily about "slim" inventory. It's about inventory not being able to meet demand on the pairs everyone is chasing after on very specific platforms — whether it's SNKRS or CONFIRMED or wherever else.
FACTS lmao. It's wild. It's a shame, though, because while we're all chasing after the same pairs you've got some legitimate gems falling to the wayside. And they're pretty easy to cop!
I hope with all DTC initiatives, that the money they’re saving will go into more reliable servers and web clients. The constant crashing of sites ruins the DTC experience for me and many other people.
If everything is going to be online, you might as well make the platform sturdy.
Adrian mentioned a good point in terms of job security. On the other hand, I think DTC sales are good from a cost management viewpoint. I may need to read more on DTC to get better insights.
I have yet to hit on SNKRS so that's where I'm at.
LMAO fair.
Keep trying!
on one hand, DTC would (presumably) mean that there's more inventory to go around on SNKRS, Confirmed, whatever because those pairs aren't being shipped to retail partners.
on the other hand, I'd be out of a job (and probably will be!) when the big guns stop sending high-heat product to retail partners, because that means we have to make our whole bag off of...what? apparel? training shoes? DTC is gonna slowly suck the life, money and jobs out of retailers
I'd also say that, like, yeah, there's more inventory on those apps. But at the same time, now ALL of the people who would be going to different retail partners to try and cop a shoe are all coming to this single place. So are your chances really improving at all from that? Idk.
I think retail is likely going to shift toward more of the community stores and experiences. Concepts, for example, has done an incredible job of changing up the layout of the store for a new release. There can and should be reason to come to local shops for the experience and possibility of hitting on the release.
I should clarify that I work for a big-box retailer. I think smaller retailers and boutiques are certainly going to survive better, but in our case a lot of the benefit of having high-heat release product is that while they're shopping for Saturday morning releases, people will throw in the hook apparel or accessories or whatever. the weekend Jordan pairs don't generate a high profit margin, it's the other shit people buy that boosts margin. if people aren't being drawn to big retailers for the high-heat stuff because the brands aren't distributing it to retail partners anymore, it's a potential death knell for those retailers.
No, exactly. Look at the community stores here in NYC or even in LA that are supposed to be reflective of their neighborhoods. I'm also keeping on eye on the DTLR and Shoe Palace acquisitions and how those will be affected. Clearly all of that money was spent for specific plan of how bigger box retailers will survive. I'm also thinking of local hype releases, like the Manila Jordans. There are definitely still opportunities if we look to local.
DTC has been more of a curse than a blessing, in my opinion, because if you don't have a Bot your chances of copping a shoe significantly drop even if it's GR or not. And I've noticed at least in my area that the stores have been getting less & fewer shoes. Before I would walk into a store and impulse buy shoes but now there isn't anything in stores for me to cop SMH.
They know exactly what they are doing! We all buy right into it. Give it another year or two and Footlocker etc wont have access unless they figure out botting. Again though Nike could squash any of this at anytime. I'm sure they love all the hype
Love to see someone do something innovative with releases, like a 5 minute pre order window where anyone who gets an order within that period is guaranteed. Still hyped because it’s a one off period to get the shoes, plus some of these shoes are never not gonna be hyped any time soon.
I'm confused by the second bullet, why would inventory be slim? Inventory is growing but like you said, "more people than ever chasing...". Consumer demand is far out pacing the inventory and that is a storyline no one is writing about. How many people are trying to get a Jordan 1 today versus one, two, three years ago?
Yeah, this is the thing that I'm talking about. "Slim" is the wrong word for it. There's just so much demand on the market right now for certain silhouettes without enough supply to go around — even if numbers (relatively speaking) are greater.
Let's say Nike launches a new Travis Scott Jordan 5 with 30k pairs available on a FCFS basis via SNKRS. There might legitimately be a million trying to cop. That's a madhouse.
So you're right. It's not necessarily about "slim" inventory. It's about inventory not being able to meet demand on the pairs everyone is chasing after on very specific platforms — whether it's SNKRS or CONFIRMED or wherever else.
Every drop is literally like the Joker's pool stick scene, 1 spot open for 3 guys fighting to the death. LOL
FACTS lmao. It's wild. It's a shame, though, because while we're all chasing after the same pairs you've got some legitimate gems falling to the wayside. And they're pretty easy to cop!
I hope with all DTC initiatives, that the money they’re saving will go into more reliable servers and web clients. The constant crashing of sites ruins the DTC experience for me and many other people.
If everything is going to be online, you might as well make the platform sturdy.