Who Will Come Out on Top? —— The 2017 Double 11 Sports Brand E-commerce Battle Report

“Nov 11 — Skechers over 100M in 20 mins!”

As the Skechers team posted this message in their Moments at midnight, they also shared a short video of nearly 15 senior executives clapping and cheering as the sales figures jumped.

In the early hours at Anta’s Xiamen operations center, President Zheng Jie watched the computer screen intently, closely monitoring changes in sales data. In the brightly lit office of the operations and design department, a motivational slogan hung: “Operations roar, design shouts, promotions scream — Double 11, I’ve got your back!”In just 8 minutes, the Anta Group (including all its brands) hit 100 million yuan in sales. At 45 minutes, a poster featuring Klay Thompson with the caption “200 million again, going crazy!” began circulating. By 2:45 AM, Anta Sports’ official WeChat account posted a poster stating “310 million, and still going,” along with news that the “total battle results” would be announced 21 hours later at midnight.poster, and announced that the "final battle results" would be revealed at midnight 21 hours later.

Since 2009, Alibaba has transformed November 11 into a shopping festival, giving rise to the new consumer carnival known as Double 11. Indeed, Double 11 has truly become a battlefield. Every year, Alibaba and major brands have no trouble at all in continually breaking their own transaction records.

Retailers who had tasted success mostly began planning for Double 11 as early as mid-year.

At Anta’s mid-year report press conference in August, when asked about e-commerce growth and responding that “Anta’s e-commerce grew by over 60% in the first half of 2017,” Board Chairman Ding Shizhong added proactively, “This year, we aim to achieve more than 80% growth compared to the same period last year on Double 11.” In July, Nike officially stated that it would continue to strengthen its strategic cooperation with Alibaba and collaborate with Tmall to promote new retail.

This year, Tmall changed its slogan from “Just Come to Tmall, That’s Enough” to “Live Your Ideal Life on Tmall.” But the complex mix of deposit inflation, cross-store discounts, store coupons, shopping allowances, Torch Red Packets, group teams, and overlapping offers made it more difficult than ever for users to get the ideal lowest price, triggering a wave of complaints.

But the annual complaints did not stop people from shopping or hinder Alibaba’s business success. According to Forbes, Alibaba's one-day sales on Double 11 exceeded Brazil’s total annual e-commerce revenue. Last year, Alibaba’s full-day sales reached 120.7 billion RMB, and without a doubt, this figure will be refreshed again today — at 13:09:49 on November 11, 2017, Tmall’s total Double 11 transaction volume surpassed last year’s full-day figure.

▲ 2009–2016 Tmall Double 11 Sales Data

Among these, sports and outdoor is one of Tmall’s key promotional categories during the sales. By 8 AM on the 11th, in Tmall’s overall brand rankings, Nike ranked fifth and Adidas eighth. By 6 PM, Nike’s official flagship store ranked fifth in Tmall’s overall store transaction volume, only behind Apple, Xiaomi, Honor, and Haier — four mobile or home appliance brands. Adidas’ official flagship store ranked ninth, while the official stores of NEW BALANCE, Anta, and Li-Ning all entered the top 50.

In the 2016 Double 11 presale rankings across the entire apparel industry, the top four spots were taken by the sportswear brands Nike, NEW BALANCE, Skechers, and Adidas, surpassing mass-market apparel brands such as Uniqlo, Semir, Bosideng, and Eland. According to reports from TIANXIA.com, in 2016, Nike secured the top spot in the overall apparel category with over 600 million RMB in full-day Double 11 sales, overtaking the previously top-ranking fast fashion giant Uniqlo and ranking fifth across all categories.

▲ Screenshot of the homepage of 10 sports brand flagship stores at 12 PM on the 11th

This is a carnival for both Alibaba and consumers, as well as the pinnacle of merchants’ annual e-commerce efforts.Through the efforts brands make for Double 11, one can clearly observe their e-commerce capabilities, strategies, and levels of investment.This year, on this important battlefield for sports brands during Double 11, how did each brand perform? What different tactics did they use? And what new features emerged? We believe that, as the vanguard of sports consumption, the sales strategies of sports brands on Double 11 have reference value for the development of the retail business in the broader sports consumption market.

Behind the Discounts — Different Strategies of Domestic and International Brands

Overall, international brands led by Nike and Adidas form one camp, while domestic brands represented by Anta, Li-Ning, Xtep, and 361° have similar discount ranges.

On their best-selling products, Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour basically do not offer discounts, with only up to 13% off available when using certain coupons. In contrast, domestic brands typically offer discounts between 40% and 50% off.

▲ Discount situation of each brand’s best-selling items on Double 11

This year, even international brands that are usually “expensive and reluctant to discount” showed some sincerity during Double 11. Nike maintained a level similar to last year, with designated categories offering up to 50% off. Adidas increased both participation and sincerity compared to last year — although its flagship store’s sales were lower than Nike and NEW BALANCE last year, according to Tmall’s presale rankings this year, it came in second only to Nike. Meanwhile, Under Armour offered significant discounts on selected footwear, but since its hottest-selling items are apparel, the brand overall remained relatively “aloof.”

For consumers, more new products with greater discounts and stronger discount intensity is the best outcome, and also reflects a brand’s sincerity during Double 11. This year, both Nike and Adidas promoted some 2017 new arrivals, and Anta also heavily promoted its 2017 new products during Double 11, though with less aggressive discounts.

361° notably set up a “Clearance Zone” in a prominent position on its homepage, showing a clearer intent to clear inventory compared to other brands. Anta’s lucky bag offering two pieces of clothing for 49 RMB is another way to destock. The rich variety of lucky draw, buy-one-get-one-free, and free gift promotions from Xtep, 361°, Anta, and Li-Ning show that domestic brands designed more diverse promotional methods on Double 11 to differentiate themselves from international brands.

“Driving Sales” Showdown — How to Leverage Brand Ambassadors?

In this era that emphasizes “driving sales” ability, brands naturally aim to leverage their ambassadors effectively during Double 11.

Among the major sports brands,Xtep and 361° are the most active in using their endorsers. Xtep’s endorsers — Nicholas Tse, Zhao Liying, and Lin Gengxin — and 361°’s — Sun Yang and Stephon Marbury — all appeared on the homepage of their respective official flagship stores. Xtep invited Zhao Liying, Lin Gengxin, and Jiro Wang, while 361° brought in Tian Liang and Huang Jianxiang to participate in live broadcasts to gain more attention and traffic..

Xtep launched crystal-embellished sneakers co-designed by Zhao Liying during the Double 11 shopping festival, promoting them via livestreams. On its flagship store page, Zhao Liying, Lin Gengxin, and Jiro Wang were showcased as “clothing models,” styled in full outfits to emphasize the “celebrity-matched” appeal.

▲ Xtep maximized the use of celebrity models and professional models.

Puma, Skechers, and Fila prominently featured their endorsers Yang Yang/Liu Haoran, Li Yifeng/Tang Yan, and Chen Kun respectively on the homepage of their official flagship stores, though promotional efforts across other channels were relatively limited.

International brands such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour (UA), and NEW BALANCE did not highlight any endorser elements on their Tmall flagship store pages. Among the four major domestic brands — Anta, Li-Ning, Xtep, and 361° — only Li-Ning did not emphasize an endorser, instead highlighting “Li-Ning China. Original.” Anta used hand-drawn comic images of its endorser Klay Thompson alongside shoe promotional photos, and even launched the “Zhang Jike: Reading the Script” campaign in November to generate buzz and traffic.

Compared to these,Nike’s use of celebrities can be said to sit at the very top of the pyramid.At the Double 11 Gala, the appearance of heavyweight guest Maria Sharapova helped Nike behind the scenes capture significant attention. Sharapova and Su Bingtian wore Nike sportswear while participating in a live domino-run race set up at the event. Amidst an evening filled with advertisements and perks, the iconic “swoosh” logos on their chests provided Nike with increased brand exposure. Last year, Kobe Bryant also appeared on stage wearing Nike gear, and it seems this strategy has paid off well for the brand.

▲ Maria Sharapova and Su Bingtian appear in Nike gear at the Tmall Double 11 Gala.

New retail upgrade — integrating offline resources.

This is the second year since Alibaba proposed the concept of “New Retail,” and also a year when the retail and e-commerce sectors have frequently discussed this buzzword. The Double 11 festival serves as a key opportunity for Alibaba and various brands to experiment with new retail concepts, placing greater emphasis on extending their reach offline. Alibaba previously stated thatthis year over 1 million physical stores and merchants both in China and abroad, 50 core commercial districts and pop-up stores, 4,000 Tmall convenience stores, and 30,000 village Taobao service points will be interconnected..

So far, among sports brands, Nike has been the most proactive in embracing offline integration for Double 11. On November 8, Nike announced that its strategic collaboration with Tmall’s New Retail initiative had achieved significant progress, with two smart stores jointly operated by both parties opening first to trial digital ordering and customer flow management.

In addition to 10 distribution centers (up from six last year), 50 Nike directly operated stores will also handle online orders with offline fulfillment during this year’s Double 11 to improve efficiency, enabling real-time inventory allocation and dispatch directly from stores.

▲ Nike maintains close collaboration with Alibaba.

On Double 11 day, Li-Ning launched its Gai Shi Wu Shuang co-branded high-top sock-style shoes at its offline stores in Chongqing, heavily promoting the event on its official Weibo and WeChat channels.

Comprehensive resource allocation — brand strength competition on the e-commerce front.

No one doubts the importance of traffic for Double 11.

When checking the Tmall Double 11 fashion main venue on November 6, the reporter found that Adidas, along with no more than 20 other brands such as ONLY, VEROMODA, and UNIQLO, was listed under the top category “Selected Big Brands.” Such “front-row” exposure undoubtedly ensured a prime traffic entry point. At that time, brands including Nike, UA, Li-Ning, Anta, and Puma (in that order) were located in the “Sports & Outdoor” category, which appeared after four swipes.

By the evening of November 10, six brands — Adidas, Nike, Li-Ning, Anta, Lululemon, and Skechers (in that order) — occupied the front row “Mall Big Brands” section of the Tmall Double 11 fashion main venue.

▲ On the evening of November 10, several major sports brands held prime positions in the Double 11 main venue.

It is evident that in this battle for resources, Adidas consistently secured the best placement, no doubt involving considerable investment.

In terms of multi-brand resource synergy, both Li-Ning and Xtep took action — Li-Ning launched a promotion where orders over 300 RMB on its official flagship store would receive a 1,000 RMB voucher, covering its official flagship store, badminton flagship store, and the DANSKIN flagship store it acquired. Xtep offered an 888 RMB voucher for orders over 300 RMB, redeemable at its official flagship store and kids’ flagship store.

On the other hand, this year only 361° and Anta leveraged their sports marketing resources. As the official partner of the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, 361° launched a daily sign-in campaign during Double 11 offering a chance to win the opportunity to be a torchbearer for the Asian Games. Meanwhile, the Anta flagship store gifted customers who spent over 3,999 RMB with the 2018 Winter Olympics dragon suit, effectively utilizing its status as an official sponsor of the Winter Olympics apparel.

This not only enriched the forms of Double 11 activities but also highlighted the brands’ rights and images as sponsors and partners of various sporting events. Leveraging sports marketing resources to synergize with Double 11 sales is a strategy that is expected to grow increasingly common and sophisticated in the future.

Social-driven new approaches — trend festivals and celebrity livestreams.

During Alibaba’s Q2 earnings conference, CEO Daniel Zhang mentioned that the Taobao mobile app has transformed from a sales platform into one driven by social interaction, content, and community. The livestreaming efforts used by many brands during this year’s Double 11 reflect this shift.

Take Xtep’s Zhao Liying livestream as an example: the flagship store featured a prominent entrance directly to the livestream page. Throughout the one-hour broadcast, options to follow Xtep’s official flagship store frequently popped up on-screen to drive traffic to the online store. Product promotions continuously appeared in the lower-left corner of the screen, while the host’s repeated mentions of a “red envelope rain” served as another key hook to keep viewers engaged.

During Zhao Liying’s livestream, the host had her personally sign a gift item to be given away as a Double 11 prize, further stimulating the audience’s desire to purchase.

▲During Zhao Liying's live stream, links to the official store and products of Xtep kept appearing.

Beyond the new format of live streaming, before Double 11, Anta launched exclusive online designer collaboration items at Tmall’s Fashion Festival and also unveiled a designer clothing series created in collaboration with fashion designer Xander Zhou through the event.

Beyond the main platforms — full coordination across official websites, WeChat, and Weibo

Although the JD.com flagship stores of Adidas, Puma, and Under Armour all adopt the same page design as Tmall, overall, Tmall remains the main battlefield for sportswear brands during Double 11. Skechers’ JD.com page does not feature the images of its spokespeople Li Yifeng and Tang Yan, and it focuses more on winter products. Meanwhile, brands like Nike and Xtep not having official flagship stores directly reflects their platform alignment amid the competition between the two.

In terms of official website involvement, NEWBALANCE and Adidas have the most aloof approach. The former shows zero enthusiasm for Double 11, while the latter only has a small selection of discounted men’s items under a secondary menu — with no mention of the term “Double 11,” though it could be part of the regular discount promotions on the site.

Nike and UA, on the other hand, put more effort into their official websites, each launching new shoes from their flagship product lines on Double 11. Nike introduced the Air Jordan XI WIN LIKE’82, while UA prominently teased the launch of the Curry MORE FUN series at 10 AM on November 11 on its homepage. This helps maintain attention on their official websites on Double 11 and underscores the importance Nike and UA place on their own traffic platforms.

Although neither the official websites nor JD.com create much of a Double 11 festive atmosphere, NEW BALANCE is one of the brands that makes the most use of new media platforms like WeChat and Weibo. Entering November, the NEW BALANCE official WeChat account posts Double 11-related content almost daily. Nike posts much less frequently, but this is related to its inherently lower posting frequency, although its individual posts tend to have the highest reach.

Overall, among the four platforms — official websites, JD.com, WeChat official accounts, and Weibo — Li-Ning exerts the most balanced effort. However, within such a complex promotional system, it is understandable that brands selectively prioritize certain areas based on their strategies and resources.

Source: Lazy Bear Sports