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- Styled Athletics | Nike wants to be luxury again — will it work?
Styled Athletics | Nike wants to be luxury again — will it work?
Plus, Champs Sports rolls out immersive Run Club experiences in-store
Sophie Bruxner-Randall
July 02, 2025
Welcome to Styled Athletics, your essential newsletter for marketers and eCommerce professionals in the athleisure industry.
CommerceNext Recap 🔈
What CommerceNext Taught Us About Brand
CommerceNext called it out: over-investing in conversion-led tactics is starving brands of future growth.
As Dom Devlin explained:
“Last-click is easy for CFOs to understand — but it’s a strategic dead end.”
Fospha’s Glow reveals how brands like Sweaty Betty link early signals (branded search, engaged visits) to revenue down the line — giving marketers the ammo they need to defend brand budgets.
Download The Glow Report and discover how top brands are measuring their brand marketing in 2025
New Playbook 👀
In 2025, fashion marketers are facing immense pressure to deliver efficient ROI.
The Fabric of Growth Playbook answers your burning questions, including:
How many channels should you be spending in to achieve an astounding +328% higher blended ROAS? We've pinpointed the sweet spot for channel diversification that maximizes returns.
Which channels best fit your brand?
What are top fashion brands betting on this year
Sector Spotlight 🎥
ACTIVEWEAR LAUNCH
Amazon's new activewear collection, tailored for Disney enthusiasts, offers practical solutions for comfort and style in Florida’s heat. The collection, featuring pieces like buttery soft tanks and biker shorts, highlights moisture-wicking materials and strategic support, appealing to consumers seeking fashionable and functional apparel. Ideal for low-impact workouts or leisurely park visits, these pieces provide actionable insights for marketers exploring consumer trends in weather-appropriate, stylish activewear.
BRAND IDENTITY SHIFT
Nike is shifting its strategy to regain its premium brand status by reducing discounts and focusing on expensive, innovative products, even in the face of consumer price sensitivity during economic uncertainty.
RETAIL INNOVATION
Champs Sports has revamped its retail concept in Tampa and Portland, emphasizing "Sport For Life" with immersive designs and a Champs Run Club. This shift underscores Foot Locker, Inc.'s commitment to enhancing customer engagement through dynamic, community-centered experiences, reflecting trends in experiential retail.
ATHLETIC APPAREL VENTURE
Bree Lumpkin, an Avon Lake graduate and former UVA track athlete, is launching Empire, an athletic clothing brand catering to muscular builds with custom sizing. Her brand addresses a common issue in sports apparel, offering solutions for athletes with non-standard proportions. This venture epitomizes tactical entrepreneurship, merging personal experience with a market need.
Performance Pulse 📈
CHECKOUT OPTIMIZATION
Shopify's transition from checkout.liquid to Checkout Extensibility offers eCommerce marketers a structured, user-friendly checkout experience while enhancing customization using new tools like Checkout Blocks. This shift aims to improve conversion rates and streamline processes but introduces challenges, especially for those relying on now-retired features. A recommended hybrid approach involves combining Shopify's built-in tools with custom implementations to maintain control and leverage new capabilities effectively.
RETAIL MEDIA SPENDING
Marketers are excessively investing in retail media without achieving genuine customer loyalty due to inadequate personalization, per SAP Emarsys research. Only 32% of US marketers report their campaigns as truly personalized, hampered by fragmented data and outdated tech, despite 60% of consumers valuing such content. Achieving effective engagement necessitates real-time customer insights and infrastructural improvements to convert data into relevant experiences.
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