Nike announced it will stop online sales of its products through thousands of resellers and wholesale distributors in China from January 1, 2027 [1, 2, 3]. Instead, Nike will concentrate all e-commerce activity on its official flagship stores on platforms including Tmall, JD.com, Douyin, as well as Nike's own website and app [1, 3, 4].

Nike aims to reduce fragmentation in its Chinese sales channels, standardize pricing and branding, and improve consumer experience. Cathy Sparks, Nike Greater China VP and GM, said, "Our sales channels have become too fragmented and chaotic. Consumers want a high-quality, trustworthy shopping environment that integrates online and offline experiences." She added, "This is not to reduce purchase channels but to reduce fragmentation and strengthen customer experience. A consistent consumer experience makes the brand stronger." [1, 4]

Among those affected, Topsports, a major Nike Chinese reseller, will stop online Nike sales in 2027, after such sales accounted for about 22% of its total revenue in the fiscal year ending February 2026 [1, 5]. Baosheng International, another distributor, will also cease online Nike product sales from the same date; online Nike sales represented about 15% of Baosheng’s revenue for the fiscal year ending 2025 [6, 7].

The change is expected to have a significant short-term negative impact on resellers like Topsports. Topsports’ Hong Kong stock price fell sharply by around 24%-30% on July 22, 2026, the day after Nike’s announcement, marking historic single-day losses. The company began clearance sales of Nike inventory as a result [8, 5, 7, 9, 10].

Nike’s sales in China have declined around 30% over the past five years amid strong competition from local brands and other foreign competitors [1, 4, 11, 12]. To strengthen its appeal to Chinese consumers, Nike also created a new Vice President role dedicated to local product development in Greater China [1].

Some analysts, including BNP Paribas’ Laurent Vasilescu, criticized the channel consolidation, arguing Nike’s problems lie with product appeal, not distribution. Vasilescu said, "Nike does not have a channel distribution issue in China or other markets, but a product issue." These analysts warn the strategy may be a mistake risking further market share loss [1, 4, 11, 12, 10].

Nonetheless, Nike and Topsports executives support the plan. Topsports CEO Yu Wu stated he supports Nike’s decision and will continue close cooperation on offline sales arrangements [4].

On July 21, 2026, Topsports received formal notice from Nike about the 2027 online sales cutoff. Nike publicly announced the channel consolidation the next day, triggering market reactions [1, 2, 3, 8, 5]. The new channel strategy takes full effect on January 1, 2027 [1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 11, 12].