Nike Online Sales Zoom 30 Percent In China To Negate Effect Of Stores Shutdown Amid COVID Threat

"Consumers are back in the stores," Mr Donahoe said of Nike's Chinese outlets. "They are often wearing facemasks, but they're back in the store".

Nike Store (Getty Images)

New Delhi: US sportswear major Nike witnessed a sharp 30 percent rise in  online sales from the Chinese market as the apparel giant eyes a business ressurgence to plough back from the detrimental effects posed by the coronavirus on its revenues amid the lockdown imposed by the Chinese government. Amid the economic and business slowdown accelerated further by the government lockdowns across the world to contain the spread of the highly contagious novel virus,the US apparel giant had to shut down majority of its stores globally. However, the US firm has something positive to cheer about with 80% stores re-opening in China as the threat from the coronavirus weaned off a bit in the East Asian Nation . "Consumers are back in the stores," Mr Donahoe said of Nike's Chinese outlets. "They are often wearing facemasks, but they're back in the store". Nike sales figures from the Chinese market witnessed a 5 percent drop to USD 1.5 billion in its last financial quarter, which runs to the end of February. It was the first decline in China for the company in almost six years. However, it has seen strong online sales, rising by 36% during the quarter. It hopes this trend will help negate the fall in sales from store closures. "We expect the next several weeks to be a challenging period," said Nike chief executive John Donahoe, talking about the US and Europe. He hopes Nike can use the lessons learned in China to find a ressurgance in its Western markets. Nike also saw an "extraordinary rise" in its personal training apps in China, designed for home workouts. User activity was up 80% as China faced a national lockdown with residents staying at home. The sportswear firm said it would come out with some new product launches originally intended for the Olympics "when the time is right". Nike has been promoting its sustainable footwear, made from recyclable materials. On Tuesday the IOC announced it was postponing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games until next year because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.