Adidas produces one fifth of revenue online

The online share in total retail sales has constantly been increasing over the years. While in 2017, 11.5% of all revenues generated via retail activities globally came from eCommerce sales, the share climbed to almost 15% in 2020 on a worldwide average, according to the Statista Digital Market Outlook. The year 2020 saw a special online boost, thanks to the corona effect. In certain countries like China or South Korea, eCommerce shares were around 25% in 2020. Since then, the online share growth has slowed down globally or stagnated in some countries. This development is also reflected in many leading retail companies’ sales performances. Sports equipment giant Adidas AG, for example, experienced a similar effect:

Adidas AG was strongly hit by Covid lockdowns as the sports equipment retailer still widely relies on stationary sales. In the first corona year 2020, total revenue for the retailer decreased by 16% to a total of US$20 billion. The slump could have been even more painful, though, had it not been for the strong online business. Adidas AG’s top online stores registered year-on-year net sales growth rates of 60% and more, cushioning the fall in stationary sales. Total eCommerce first-party net sales of Adidas AG climbed from US$2.7 billion in 2019 to 4.2 billion in 2020, making up 21% of overall revenues in the first corona year. Although the eCommerce share for Adidas AG decreased slightly in 2021, it is still clearly above pre-pandemic levels with 19%. Overall revenues were back on growth tracks in 2021, amounting to US$21 billion. These revenues are distributed across product categories as follows:

Footwear is traditionally Adidas AG’s strongest product segment. It has constantly contributed more than 50% to the company’s overall revenue. In total terms, revenues in the footwear segment increased until 2019 alongside total revenue in the other segments. However, footwear has been losing some of its relevance compared to the other product segments, in favor of the apparel and accessories segments. While in 2017, footwear was still responsible for 59% of Adidas AG’s total revenue, the share decreased constantly over the years. The loss in relevance compared to the other segments was especially pronounced in 2021, with a decrease of 2.7 percentage pointing to a share of 53% in total revenue. It was especially the apparel product segment which increased its revenue share at the same time, from 37% in 2017 to 41% in 2021. But also the accessories segment made gains; its share in total revenue increased to 5.6% in 2021.

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March 2023