Nike pilots scan-to-try sneaker service in LA stores

By

Robin Driver

Published
Aug 21, 2018

As it launches a range of new app functions, Oregon-based sportswear brand Nike, Inc. is experimenting with mobile integration in store, allowing customers to request sneakers to try on by scanning them with the brand’s retail app.

 
The new service, which is currently being piloted in select LA-area Nike stores, saves customers the effort of hunting down a store assistant when they want to try on shoes or simply allows them to reduce time spent talking to staff if they’d rather keep interactions with store employees to a minimum.

To use the new service, customers scan the shoe’s barcode with the Nike app which then displays information about the sneaker model, including price, available colors and sizes currently in stock at the store. Having selected a color and size, customers are redirected to a waiting screen where they receive updates about the progress of their request. They can then proceed to the designated pick-up area and wait for a store assistant to bring them the shoes.

While the focus on reducing interactions between customers and store employees may sound somewhat unsociable – and counter-intuitive considering the emphasis currently being placed on customer service by brick-and-mortar retailers trying to get the edge on their competitors – the new service actually seems to sit pretty well with the latest research about consumer expectations.
 
A recent beauty industry study conducted by Wakefield Research, for example, found that, despite feeling overwhelmed by the range of available products, two thirds of consumers would rather be left alone while shopping, preferring to research the merchandise themselves with their smartphones.

Along with scan-to-try, Nike is also currently piloting a handful of other new functions in its retail app, including a service that allows customers to reserve items to try on in store later, as well as an “Instant Unlocks” feature, which opens up freebies through the app.
 
These new features appear, therefore, to be aiming to leverage mobile functionalities to improve Nike’s in-store experience, in a manner that an NRF study carried out earlier this year found to be particularly effective in engaging the key millennial and Gen-Z markets.
 
Nike’s new app functionalities, including scan-to-try, are currently being trialled in select stores on the West Coast before the company rolls them out to the remainder of its US locations.