By David Saunders, Health Editor | UPDATED: 08:28, 26 June 2020
The experience of shoe-shopping for young kids is deceptively complex. At first glance, it’s all about the child – but as many parents know, it can be just as much an experience for them.
The reasons why are universal: Kids’ feet are continually growing, and many kids can’t articulate what they want, even after shoebox after shoebox comes out of the backroom. (The foot size issue isn’t helped by the fact that 60% of people, kids included, are walking around in the wrong-sized shoe at any given time.)
But now, a solution: Nike Adventure Club, Nike’s first footwear subscription service for children. Nike Adventure Club lets kids regularly select Nike and Converse shoes for the right-fitting shoe as their feet – and tastes – evolve.
“In providing footwear, we’re always trying to answer, ‘What do kids want?’” says Dominique Shortell, Director of Product Experience and Retention for Nike Adventure Club. “But an equally important question is, ‘What kind of experience are we providing for their parents?’ We want to make shopping for footwear as convenient as possible for them.”
Here’s how it works:
• Nike Adventure Club serves kids through sizes 4C to 7Y. (That’s roughly from age 2 to 10.)
• Choose from three tiers of subscription services, ranging from four pairs a year to 12 pairs a year. You’re free to upgrade, downgrade or pause your subscription at any time.
• Choose from more than 100 different sneaker styles, ranging across the spectrum of performance and sportswear.
• If you like the shoe, you can keep the pair. If you’re ready to replace it, send it back and Nike Adventure Club will either donate or recycle the returned sneaker.
“We see Nike Adventure Club sits as having a unique place within Nike, and not just for it being the first sneaker club for kids,” says Dave Cobban, GM of Nike Adventure Club. “It provides a wide range of options for kids, while at the same time, it removes a friction point for parents who are shopping on their behalf.”
In addition to shoes, the subscription service comes with exclusive adventure guides, filled with outdoor games and activities that parents can do with their kids. The guides are a collaborative partnership between Nike and KaBoom, a national nonprofit focused on encouraging kids to lead active, healthy lifestyles.
Nike Adventure Club will fulfill its first subscriptions beginning August 12.