Customer Review Champion: Adidas vs Nike

Who is the GOAT, Messi or Ronaldo? Are you a Derrick Rose or LeBron James fan? Do you prefer Collin Morikawa or Rory McIlroy? Depending on your answers, it is likely we could predict your favorite footwear brand. How? Because all of these athletes have one thing in common: They are either team Adidas or team Nike. Using Caplena for the customer review analysis of Adidas and Nike stores in Berlin, Paris, and New York, we decided to tackle the age-old question: Who is the best sportswear giant?

The new integration feature by Caplena allowed us to upload 16,133 Google Maps reviews from six Adidas and Nike stores by simply copying and pasting their respective addresses. Below you can see how easy this process is ⬇️. By going through Caplena’s easy-peasy 3 1/2 steps to analyze reviews, we came to the following findings 🕵️.

Star Rating, NPS, and Popular Categories

In general, Adidas has a star rating of 4.34 compared to Nike’s 4.21 rating. Although their star ratings are similar, Nike has nearly twice the amount of negative customer reviews as Adidas (11.05% vs 6.69%). However, Nike’s star rating is driven by its promoters, which amounts to 59.42% of reviews, a close second to Adidas’ 60.63%. Similarly, Adidas and Nike have an NPS score of 53.94 and 48.37 respectively.

Analyzing the customer feedback categories, Adidas and Nike had unique insights. The majority of Adidas’ customer reviews focused on the ‘Store Experience’. In contrast, Nike customers focused on the ‘Customer Experience’. Similarly, both brands considered the ‘Product Experience’ as their second most popular category, with ‘Pricing’ and ‘Discounts’ being the least mentioned topics of interest.

Now, let’s dive deep into each category!

Customer Review Analysis: ‘Customer Experience’

“Worst retail service in the world!  45 minute wait for finally no size...” - Nike Review

The ‘Customer Experience’ category, consists of ‘Helpfulness’, ‘Friendliness’, and ‘Waiting Time’. ‘Helpfulness’ considers whether a customer query was resolved. ‘Friendliness’ considers the perceived attitude of the workers. ‘Waiting Time‘ considers the speed of the service. For Adidas, ‘Customer Experience’ is only the third largest segment in its customer review analysis, with an overall positive ‘Customer Experience’ (26.7%). Less than 10% (6.4%) of customer reviews complained about the ‘Helpfulness’ and ‘Friendliness’ of the staff as well as the in-store waiting time, with the availability of staff being the biggest issue. The lack of customer service was quite frustrating for some, with some customers “not feeling the vibe from the folks on the floor”.

In contrast to Adidas, Nike’s Customer Experience’ is the most mentioned category, accounting for 41.8% of customer reviews. When investigating further, we discovered why: Mixed customer reviews. Some have claimed Nike stores to be the “reason to do a day trip to Paris” whilst the same stores also have complaints of having “the worst retail service in the world”. Nike’s negative customer experience reviews account for 39% of overall customer experience reviews, with its biggest complaint deriving from the topic of ‘Helpfulness’. A contrasting 61.7% of customers compare Nike stores to the home for “athletes and Nike lovers” advocating Nike stores for their very ‘Friendly’ and ‘Knowledgeable’ staff. Regardless, it is clear that Nike store management has to address its bad reviews by training its staff more effectively.

Adidas Positive Customer Experience/Total Customer Experience: 80.9%

Nike Positive Customer Experience/Total Customer Experience: 61.7%

Nike evidently needs to address its ‘Customer Experience’ customer reviews

Customer Review Analysis: ‘Pricing and Discounts’

“It is a nice store, but I guess it is cheaper to buy these clothes in Germany. I know we are at the 5th Avenue. I know.” - Adidas Review

For both sportswear brands, ‘Pricing’ and ‘Discounts’ account for less than 10% of overall customer reviews. 55.5% and 71.4% of ‘Pricing’ reviews are negative for Adidas and Nike respectively. The majority of reviews complain about lack of discounts, and although stores are worth visiting for their ‘Appearance’ and ‘Atmosphere’ they are often rated as “vastly overpriced”. However, when was the last time you left a positive review specifically about the pricing of a store? It is likely that you mentioned other aspects of the store, such as the friendly staff or the selection of products available. Nevertheless, other reviews share how both Adidas stores are ‘surprisingly affordable’ and that Nike stores have ‘good deals’.

With our customer review analysis, we did uncover a helpful insight: How to get the best bang for your buck . With Adidas, joining the Adidas Creators Club gives you early access to promotions and discount vouchers that you can avail of online and in-store. According to customer reviews, Adidas stores also price-match online prices. To get the best price with Nike, one recommends signing up for the Nike Run Club or Nike Membership to avail of the best discounts, limited edition items, and free shipping. Another tip from customers was to order online and collect in-store whilst shopping in-store to beat the queues and have a hassle-free shopping experience.

This category also reveals how both brands manage their omnichannel retail strategy (having a brick-and-mortar and online store) with pricing reviews claiming that the online experience is cheaper, easier, and hassle-free in comparison to shopping in-store. Both companies will have to re-assess their omnichannel efforts to ensure they keep their stores attractive.

Adidas Positive Pricing/Total Pricing: 46.9%

Nike Positive Pricing/Total Pricing: 33.8%

Customer Review Analysis: ‘Product Experience’

But why are we here? The products, of course! ‘Product Experience’ considers the selection of ‘Products In-Store’, ‘Design’ and ‘Quality’, ‘Size Availability’, and whether a product can be ‘Customized’. This category is striking as Adidas and Nike reviews are dominated by the ‘Selection’ topic, with very little said in regard to the remaining topics. Both sportswear giants have a strong majority of positive reviews regarding the wide array of products in-store. Similarly, the lack of selection was also both brands’ biggest source of negative reviews, with over 35% of Adidas’ ‘Overall Negative’ reviews deriving from the ‘Selection’ category. Interestingly, Adidas’ second biggest positive topic was its ‘Design’ and ‘Quality’, with nearly 7% of reviews advocating Adidas for “always [being] on their game”. The remainder of the product experience for Adidas accounts for less than 5% of overall customer reviews.

“Each corner is an experience of its own. You get to design your own shoes, and go through the evolution of design and check some of Nike’s art pieces installed in the store. The music is very vibrant, the staff is energetic and very helpful and they help you within a reasonable time taking how crowded the place is in consideration.” - Nike Review

Unlike Adidas, Nike’s second biggest strength was its ‘Customized’ options in-store, accounting for nearly 5% of the positive product experience reviews, with many complimenting the level of detail one could customize on-site. The most urgent issue Nike needs to face is its lack of selection in-store, accounting for 94.1% of negative product experience reviews. Evidently, both sportswear giants need to review their current product stock and reassess how often they rotate stock to improve their overall selection.

Adidas Positive Product Experience/Total Product Experience: 78.5%

Nike Positive Product Experience/Total Product Experience: 65.3%

Customer Review Analysis: ‘Store Experience’

The ‘Store Experience’ category includes ‘General Store Experience’, ‘Appearance’, ‘Atmosphere’, ‘Location’, ‘Accessibility’, ‘Sustainability’, and whether a ‘Competitor Comparison’ has been made. When one looks at and compares the sentiment charts of Adidas and Nike, it is interesting to note the lack of Nike ‘Store Experience’ reviews (19.8%) compared to Adidas’ abundance (43.5%). Unlike Nike’s largest category of mixed sentiment, Adidas has a mere 6.4% negative sentiment in this category. Adidas’ customer reviews champion the sportswear’s ‘Appearance’ and ‘Atmosphere’, with over half (50.8%) of positive customer reviews considering the ‘Appearance’ of the store alone. Further, the ‘General Store Experience’ of an Adidas store was in the minds of the customer, boasting as the second largest positive topic within its category (36.8%). The topics making up the remaining 12.4%, ‘Accessibility’, ‘Sustainability’, and location, are largely positive, reflecting Adidas stores as being both exceptional in ‘Appearance’ and in ‘Practicality’.

With Nike, the ‘Store Experience’ category is largely positive, with over 80% of customer reviews gushing about the ‘beautiful’ and ‘original’ stores that will “make your head spin”. The ‘General Store Experience’ of the store and its ‘Appearance’ was the main positive topics for Nike customers, with some even expressing their ‘love’ for Nike. Nike’s negative ‘Store Experience’ reviews were few, accounting for a mere 2.5% of overall customer reviews, displaying how the Nike store design team is doing well in its efforts to create a captivating ‘Store Experience’.

Adidas Positive Store Experience/Total Store Experience: 92%

Nike Positive Store Experience/Total Store Experience: 80.3%

The Best Overall Experience 🏆

Now that we’ve explored each category in detail, we need to decide which sportswear giant has proved itself in providing the best overall experience to customers. To decide on the champion, we need to get the overall average score. We’ve decided to apply the mean test in which we add up each individual score and divide by the number of categories to get the overall experience score:

Adidas Overall Experience: 74.6%

Nike Overall Experience: 60.8%

So, What Have We Learned?

With this competitor analysis, we’ve revealed that a similar star rating or NPS score says little without analyzing customer review feedback in-depth. We have discovered that negative customer reviews often recognize more issues than positive customer reviews. We learned that having the right employees in the workplace is crucial for success in the retail industry, as they have a direct impact on the customer experience. We’ve also uncovered hidden gems, such as customer behavior to find the best price and how important it is for sportswear stores to have a good selection of products and regular stock rotation to maintain repeat customer interest. Finally, we’ve recognized that to create a five-star experience, businesses must consider multiple touchpoints of the store, from the pricing of the products to the overall atmosphere of the store.

Interested in checking out the data yourself? You can analyze the data with the Adidas vs Nike Caplena dashboard here