Nike SWOT & PESTLE Analysis

Titled after the Greek goddess of victory, Nike's foremost purpose is to provide athletes with outstanding commodities that boost their sports performance. Nike is the largest sports footwear, apparels, and equipment company in the world which endeavors to design products that help to improve athletic performance, lessen injury and maximize comfort. Following is the analysis of all the pertinent internal and external strategic factors of Nike that contribute to the trajectory growth of the company. The SWOT Analysis of Nike Inc. illustrates the company's key strengths and opportunities from its external environment that can be consolidated to further strengthen the company. The report also manifests intelligence on Nike's internal weaknesses and external threats that can cripple its growth.
World's No.1 and largest shoemaker, innovative and diversified product portfolio, strong core and side brands, loyal and large customer base, global presence, strong R&D and technical innovations, low manufacturing cost, influencing marketing strategies, etc., are just a handful of the several strengths of Nike.
These factors also serve as core competencies to Nike and lend it a competitive advantage. Despite all the quintessential strengths of Nike, the company faces trouble from some of its inherent weakness. Nike has always been targeted for labor issues like child labor, low wages, in-equal pay on a gender basis, toxic work environment, sexual harassment, etc. These internal weaknesses have damaged the brand reputation. Though Nike's merchandises are mainly designed for an athletic use a considerable percentage of the products are worn for informal or leisure purposes. This grants the company a great opportunity to target audiences who utilize Nike's products not only for sports purpose but also as a fashion trend. The athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment industry, as a whole, is extremely competitive on a worldwide basis; therefore, Nike faces stringent competition threat from its top rivals like Adidas, Under Armour, Puma, etc. Another major threat Nike encounters from the counterfeit products that extensively affect the revenue and reliability of the brand.
The SWOT analysis for Nike is presented below in a nutshell followed by the detailed analysis:

Strengths	Weaknesses
1. Healthy balance sheet with strong financials 2. International presence 3. Follows a “Make to stock” model focusing on fast track availability of product for customers from available stocks 4. Highly innovative products and strong research and development base 5. Follows a “ Low cost high quality” 6. Recognized three times as “top 100 companies to work for” 7. Branding product through top athletes of the world.	1. High reliability on shoe manufacturing for maximum revenue , makes the company vulnerable to market share erosion of shoe products 2. Price sensitivity of the retail model with upcoming competitors like Reebok and Adidas and no self owned retailers the profit margin might get reduced
Opportunities	Threats
1. Scope of development in projecting Nike as a fashion brand 2. Expansion of branding focus through sunglasses , sportswear , equipment and accessories 3. Enhancing branding through sports academy	1. Upcoming competitor brands 2. Common Business model like “ Low price High quality” followed by other competitors 3. Revenue subjective to currency variations due to Global presence increases cost of product

Detailed SWOT Analysis of Nike

The Sports apparel industry caters the necessary apparel, footwear, and accessories required during sports and workout sessions. Apart from this basic objective, the industry is further designing apparel and footwear suitable for the athleisure purpose. The most trending athleisure apparel and footwear includes sneakers, tights, shorts, yoga pants, leggings, etc. Besides athletes, sportswear is becoming a more considerable part of people's everyday wardrobes. Due to these trends, the industry has observed extensive growth surges in the past few years and is anticipated to grow exponentially even in the future.
The PESTLE / STEEPL / PEST analysis report is a structure to explore the impact of external factors on the macro-environment that influences business of The Nike company. The PESTLE analysis is a useful technique to study the impact of influencers on Nike's business model and business case study. The PESTLE analysis addresses all the pertinent external factors particularly political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental, their consequence on the sports apparel and footwear industry and extensively on Nike.
The unpredictable global and local, economic and political conditions have perpetually affected the international trade of many manufacturing and service sectors, and the sports footwear and apparel industries, as a whole, are not immune. Nike's international operations are subjected to various political and economic risks like foreign and domestic trade policies, accessions in import duties, anti-dumping measures, safety measures, political instability and terrorism. Nike also faced legal issues when lawsuits were filled by female employees on the company for: violating equal pay act, sexual harassment and misconduct in work environment.
Athletic wear and athleisure clothing are gaining popularity due to increasing health consciousness, the importance given to physical well being, and various other social and demographic factors.
Technical innovation through intensive research and development have added to the success of Nike. Its footwear and apparels are designed to provide maximum comfort and safety to the athletes and improve their performance.
To minimize environmental impact, Nike is focused on reducing its carbon footprints, recycling, reducing water consumption, etc. Nike Grind is a 25 year old and successful initiative of Nike to recycle its surplus production materials and athletic footwear which are further incorporated into new Nike footwear, apparels and even outdoor play surfaces.
The PESTLE / STEEPL / PEST analysis for Nike is presented below in a nutshell followed by the detailed analysis:

Detailed Pestle Analysis of Nike

• The SWOT and PESTEL analysis report of Nike Inc. presents the complex internal and external factors affecting Nike's brand, its operations, business model, market strategy and growth trajectory.
• The SWOT analysis evaluates the strengths and opportunities that Nike holds and how it strategizes itself to succeed its weaknesses and threats in its operating external environment
• The report confers intelligence on the external analysis, comprising the opportunities - low hanging fruits which can be harvested to achieve further growth and expansion and some pertinent threats that threaten to hinder the growth of the company
• The Report covers compelling initiatives that were taken by Nike, to stay ahead of its competitors and adversaries and attain a competitive edge in the industry.
• The PESTLE analysis of the Sports Apparel and Accessories Industry helps to distinguish the factors that compel and restrain the retail market.
• The PESTLE/ PESTEL/ STEEPL Analysis for in-depth analysis of all external factors specifically, political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental, highlighting their consequence on Nike's business model, marketing and growth strategy
• Abstract information on Nike's business diversification, deriving its key business segments and highlighting its major competitors
• A concise widow into of Nike’s headquarters, turnover, revenue, and subsidiaries. This is followed by a comprehensive company analysis to obtain perspicacity into company information, company profile, business model, business plans and marketing strategy
• Analysis of Nike's market position, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships and alliances, that the company endorsed, and the business aims or synergies that were achieved with them
• Interpretation of Nikes USP or unique selling proposition, mission statement, and vision statement. With a peek into Nike's key success factors, performance indicators, core values, value propositions, and core competencies.
• Discussion on Nike's business model, extending to the analysis of key business segments and business case study