Nike announced Tuesday that it will sever ties with thousands of online distributors in China as of January, funneling shoppers instead toward its owned digital properties and dedicated storefronts on Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin.
Nike said the current setup — a far-reaching web of storefronts operated by physical retail partners and secondary distributors — has produced uneven pricing and an inconsistent brand image that the consolidation is designed to correct. Nike said the consolidation is meant to produce a consistent consumer experience rather than to reduce overall product access.
“This is not about reducing access. It is about reducing fragmentation and strengthening the consumer journey,” Cathy Sparks, Nike’s vice president and general manager of Greater China, wrote in a letter. “When the experience is consistent, the brand becomes stronger.”
Topsports, Nike’s largest distributor in mainland China, said it backs the change despite expecting near-term strain. “This adjustment will bring some short-term pressure to our business,” Topsports CEO Yu Wu said in a statement. “But we firmly believe that, over the medium- to long-term, this direction will help promote a healthier, more orderly, and more sustainable retail ecosystem in China.”
Wu said Topsports and Nike have worked together for 27 years and that the company intends to deepen its focus on physical retail going forward. The change is expected to affect other brick-and-mortar partners in the region that have expanded their online operations in recent years, according to CNBC.
BNP Paribas equity analyst Laurent Vasilescu cautioned that the China move echoes Nike’s earlier retreat from North American wholesale accounts, a strategy he said ultimately ceded competitive ground and weighed on the company’s sales and margins, according to CNBC. “We don’t think Nike has a distributor problem but rather a product problem which also applies in other markets,” Vasilescu wrote, with BNP maintaining an underperform rating on the company.
The China restructuring comes as Nike works to reverse a prolonged sales decline in the region. Greater China revenue dropped 17% on a constant-currency basis in Nike’s most recent fiscal quarter, a steeper slide than the 10% decline posted in the prior period, as local brands gained ground with Chinese consumers. The region accounts for roughly 15% of Nike’s total annual sales. Nike stock has fallen more than 35% so far in 2026.
“We are making these changes with clarity and conviction because we believe deeply in this market and its long-term potential,” the company said.
