Nike strategic new partnership with Amazon

For a long time Nike has ignored Amazon, this may be in part due to it wanting to protect it's brand and strict inventory controls. However now, it seems Amazon has gotten too big for Nike to ignore. According to an article by Business Insider;

Nike will begin selling some products on Amazon next month, but the deal isn't necessarily about growing volume. Instead, Nike's goal is to work more closely with Amazon to crack down on third-party sellers, according to The Wall Street Journal's Laura Stevens and Sara Germano.

Now the fact that Nike is going to sell directly to Amazon, is not the most interesting part of this deal. On Amazon, there are third-parties that re-sell Nike products as a living. The strategic and interesting part of this deal between these two giants is stated in the article as;

As part of the deal between Amazon and Nike, Amazon will monitor its website and no longer allow third parties to sell Nike merchandise, the Journal reports. According to the WSJ, the initial amount of product it will actually offer on Amazon is small.

Not only is Nike killing off a niche market on Amazon, but it will tighten it's brand image and help direct consumers to it's website (because they'll only sell a small quantity on Amazon, so consumers will have to look elsewhere).

Personally, I feel as if this is a great deal for Nike. This will not only help it reach a more broad audience, but having more traffic directed toward its website leads to higher margins.