In about ten days, it's Christmas. You may dream to deposit at the foot of the tree a jersey of the French football team with the two world champion stars. Except that buying a blue tunic is an obstacle course. Nike distilled them drop by drop. And that turns into a fiasco.
Europe 1 went to several sports shops in Paris and the report is the same: no more blue jersey, the store Go Sport was robbed. At the Decathlon of Wagram Square, it's worse: they never had a single copy. It's been six months since the store is waiting to be delivered. At the federation shop, we were advised to go to Nike because the brand's own stores are used primarily.
"There are not all sizes, all numbers, it's hell!" Over there, on the Champs-Elysees, we met Jean-Luc, who found with difficulty a shirt for his son: "we do not find everything we want because there are stockouts, he not all sizes, all numbers, it's hell! I do not understand why they are not replenished! "
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Why Nike, which is a huge multinational, can not produce enough jersey? The question is logical. So we put it directly to Nike. No answer. Her director of communication is unreachable until next week. In an email, we are told that there are jerseys available on the site of the firm, which is true ... but 140 euros and virgin flocking. The replica of the jersey, less luxurious, costs 85 euros and n is only available in small sizes. For the XL for example, it is necessary to wait until March 30 ...
The first reason for this ugly situation is that Nike makes all its jerseys in Thailand. And the local factories are obviously struggling to cope with the demand. The second is that the team of France is perhaps not as desirable as that for the equipment manufacturer. It may seem paradoxical because Nike spends more than 50 million euros a year to equip the Blues, but the jersey of the French team is less dreamy than that of Brazil and would be considered less international seller.
"You can not be annoyed when a partner represents 50% of your commercial budget!" At the French Football Federation, it is hard to hide his embarrassment, like the President Noel le Graët: "No, it does not annoy me, it is a partner of high quality, loyal. the numbers can not be annoyed when a partner represents 50% of your commercial budget! I would have preferred there to be jerseys everywhere, of course.I would have preferred not to have to answer constantly this question of delay, but it's not a huge problem. "
Not a problem, but a big shortfall, all the same: a flocked jersey costs more than 150 euros, and we can reasonably estimate that the jersey would have sold a million copies. That is more than 150 million euros of lost revenue between Asia and Europe! Finally, the only ones who rub their hands are the manufacturers of counterfeits, whose global business is estimated at 500 million euros.