Nike's new subscription service tackles a costly aspect of raising children
Nike (NKE) is getting in on the subscription service action with Nike Adventure Club — a new service for kids. Nike is billing the service as being a "Parent’s best friend," and that might prove to be the case if successful.
As many parents already know, children are among one of the hardest demographics to shop for. Not only do parents have to account for rapidly changing tastes but also rapidly changing sizes. It's not uncommon for a child to grow out of their back-to-school sneakers by mid-year, which could be a big drain on a family's budget. Nike's Adventure Club might be able to offer parents and children a degree of flexibility and affordability.
Nike’s Adventure Club serves children sizes 4C to 7Y and allows three tiers of subscription. The minimum for the service is four pairs a year, starting at $20 per month and the maximum is 12 pairs a year priced at $50 per month. Parents and children can choose from more than 100 different sneaker styles, according to Nike. The styles range from performance to athleisure models.
If customers like the shoe, they can keep it. If they don't, they can return the pair to Nike for another pair. Nike will then donate or recycle the used shoe.
There is also an artistic aspect of the Adventure Club. Nike has teamed up with a nonprofit organization called KaBoom. The group encourages children to lead an active, healthy lifestyle. Together with Nike, KaBoom will include exclusive adventure guides with outdoor activities and games that parents can participate in with their kids.
The question of “what do kids want” is something that Nike is always trying to answer.
"But an equally important question is, 'What kind of experience are we providing for their parents?' We want to make shopping for footwear as convenient as possible for them," says Dominique Shortell, director of product experience and retention for Nike Adventure Club.
Reggie Wade is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ReggieWade.
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