We’ve been telling WearTesters readers for the past months that adidas is doing big things. Now, adidas has UltraBoost sales numbers to tell us just how well the brand is doing.
According to a press statement from adidas, the brand has seen huge growth in North America for an unprecedented Q1 (+31%). The statement does not say what has increased by 31% — it may be sales, but it could also be orders shipped, not final sales, or overall stock growth in Q1.
The brand notes that two recent silhouettes, the UltraBoost Uncaged and AlphaBounce, have led to success in the performance running market. According to the Three Stripes’ UltraBoost sales numbers, the UltraBoost Uncaged is the brand’s “fastest selling performance shoe ever in America.” Over 11,000 pairs were sold in the first hour. The recently released UltraBoost Uncaged with color (painted midsoles) sold out in a day. Additionally, the adidas’ first shipment of the AlphaBounce sold out in 48 hours and men’s sizes sold out online in under 12 hours.
Paul Bowyer, Senior Director of Running for adidas North America has this to say:
“The momentum we have in running is undeniable. adidas has the best innovations in the industry with BOOST, Primeknit and now BOUNCE. And today, with high style performance products and impactful execution, we’re connecting with consumers like never before. We’re seeing runners switch brands, athletes choose adidas over our competitors and sneakerheads demand a performance shoe. adidas Running will continue to accelerate and we’re eager to share what’s next.”
While these UltraBoost sales numbers are impressive, they may also be meaningless. The data comes from adidas and it is very specific: it is the German brand’s fast selling shoe in America, not the fastest selling performance running shoe in America. Other brands like Nike and Jordan have been selling enormous volume in very short periods of time for awhile; for the 2014 holiday season, Jordan Brand moved almost half a million pairs of Legend Blue Jordan XIs in both men’s and kid’s sizes in just three hours for a gross of $81 million.
If you’re into video games you’ve been privy to these kinds of statistics before. When Destiny originally came out Activision quickly announced that it had shipped $500 million worth of the game on release day. Yet, after five days on shelves Activision reported a much lower sales number of $325 million. It coupled that news with other statistics like “Destiny fans played more than 100 million hours of the game in the first week” (Eric Hirschberg, Activision Publishing). Yes, Destiny turned out to be one Activision’s biggest IPs ever, but the numbers, and how they are presented, can be misleading.
My point is that these UltraBoost sales numbers and corporate sales statistics, while impressive, must be regarded carefully and compared with the rest of the industry to achieve any sort of meaning. It’ll be interesting to see what numbers the other brands begin reporting after launching new sneakers.
Thoughts? Let’s discuss in the comments below.
Photo via adidas
