NFTs remain popular: Nike earns $1 million in digital sneaker sales
What happened: On Wednesday, May 24, Nike opened “General Access” sales for its first non-fungible token (NFT) sneakers via its dedicated .SWOOSH Web3 platform. The “First Access” sale started on May 15th for members of the .SWOOSH community.
Each NFT costs $19.82, which refers to the year of the Air Force 1’s debut. Despite not being sold out like the usual coveted sneaker drops, the brand has sold over 71,000 of the 106,453 “Our Force 1s” NFTs, raising over $1 million in sales.
From fan favorites like the AF1 ‘Linen’ to elusive styles like the AF1 ‘EKIN’.
From heartfelt inspirations to playful co-creations.
From generative forces dressed in materials you’ve never dreamed of to those who pay tribute to the shoe that started it all.
This is Our Force 1. pic.twitter.com/mq8ou6VpGX
— .SWOOSH (@dotSWOOSH) 23 May 2023
The First Access sale was original scheduled for May 8 but was delayed due to technical and traffic issues, with .SWOOSH tweeting that it needed a little more time to produce a “seamless” experience.
But according to reports, this target was not achieved. Due to high traffic, the site kept crashing during the First Access sale, causing the coining process to take more hours than usual.
By May 16, Nike was forced to extend the First Access sale due to technical issues. Due to these complications, sales were much slower than expected, with around 83,000 NFTs still available by May 22.
On May 25, the sports giant hailed the sale as a success via Twitter, stating that it had sold more than 55,000 OF1 boxes to 30,000 unique buyers.
The Jing Take: Despite technical issues, Nike’s first .SWOOSH drop has been a success, reflecting consumer sentiment continued interest in NFTs.
Obviously, there is a high demand for digital assets within the sneaker space, so much so that Nike needs to improve its system to handle the level of traffic. Since the brand’s SNKRS app is so efficient at managing an extreme number of visitors at once for limited edition releases, consumers expected more from .SWOOSH.
The level of excitement surrounding this first NFT sneaker on the Nike Web3 platform proves that there is still untapped digital and meta potential for brands. In fact, it shows how Nike’s acquisition of RTFKT has strengthened its reputation in the Web3 community and solidified its pole position among the traditional brands entering that space.
The Jing Take reports on some of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to the heated debate that is sprouting on Chinese social media.
