“We know that speed is very important to our customers, he said. It is what drove us to create a host of business initiatives based on flexibility and speed, at all levels within our group. For example, we have introduced a system we call ‘Express Lane’ which allows us to cut down to a few weeks, rather than months, the time between [a product’s] design and its availability on the shelves. Express Lane is a major competitive advantage, and in this quarter it allowed us to launch a new shoe model called ‘LunarCharge’, which was well received by consumers.”

For the LunarCharge shoe, the time between design and market availability has reportedly been four times shorter than usual. As part of a global focus on responding to new trends as quickly as possible, Nike constantly highlights, as Adidas does too, its efforts designed to offer new solutions to its clients.

For the time being, the Express Lane system is applied to footwear only, but Nike’s top management stated that it will also be adopted for the rest of the group’s range, including apparel products.

Nike is constantly busy launching new models, and its management seems keen to become even sharper at this game. “It all stems from consumers, who do not  ask for more products, but for more choice in the products they love,” said Mark Parker. “Our response is to offer more distinctive options on fewer products. It is an approach we call ‘Edit to Amplify’. Reducing the number of items while emphasising the key elements within product concepts has a huge impact across our entire value chain.”

This approach is clearly beneficial for Nike in terms of profitability, especially in the North American market, where the group has invested in setting up the Manrev (manufacturing revolution) project that kicked off last year, striking a deal with US high tech manufacturer Flex.