Snapchat’s leap of faith into e-commerce

Nike’s Jordan brand teamed up with Snapchat to pre-release the Air Jordan III “Tinker” trainers after this week’s NBA All-Star game. After the game, people who attended the Jumpman All-Star after-party in LA were able to scan an exclusive Snap code and buy the trainers directly through Snapchat.

Although Shopify were responsible for the checkout process within the platform, this is the first time a brand other than Snapchat themselves have sold a product solely within the app. Pretty handy that it happened to be a brand as big as Nike…

The shoes sold out in 23 minutes and were delivered by a start-up called Darkstore by 10:30PM that night. How very Amazon Prime!

The success would definitely have been bolstered by the fact that Nike, as a brand, fits very well within the NBA audience, and the offer was geofenced to downtown LA during the game.

There’s no doubt that if this takes off in the long-term for Snapchat, it would expand their offering, and the interactivity of the codes to purchase is appealing, as is the combination of social experience and shopping.

Let’s hope this takes off more than their spectacles! It’s a small move into the in-app e-commerce market, but with a brand like Nike, it was guaranteed to be a winner.

Picture1

Latest Posts

We’ve all been there – reeling off the results of our latest B2B marketing campaign with glee, while the recipient’s eyes glaze over. Whether it’s informing CFOs or CMOs of our latest success, we need to tailor our reporting accordingly and make them far more impactful. You may have seen…
Read More
Meta didn’t announce updates. It announced control. At NewFronts 2025, Meta rolled out tools, formats, and algorithms that signal one thing: it wants to own the attention economy from top to bottom. Discovery, distribution, and even your creative process. This isn’t just about more ad slots. It’s…
Read More
We’ve all heard it — “digital works.” But if you’re still treating social media as an afterthought or a cherry on top of your marketing strategy, you’re likely missing the real opportunity that’s right in front of you. A key insight we took away from the recent FinTech Marketing Conference…
Read More