Nike throws out sneaker styles, slashes 1400 jobs

Nike is set to lay off two per cent of its global workforce amid drop in sales. Photo / Getty Images

Nike has announced plans to sell more shoes directly to customers online as part of a restructuring in which it plans to cut about 1400 jobs.

It will also reduce the number of sneaker and clothing styles it makes by a quarter and focus on hot sellers such as ZoomX, Nike React and Air VaporMax, which has a sole made entirely of tough, bouncy airbags.

Nike will focus on sneaker technologies with its new releases, as part of a strategy to "double innovation", while slashing the time it takes to create new products.

"We're getting even more aggressive in the digital marketplace," chief executive Mark Parker said.

The company said a main focus will be the 12 key cities in 10 countries that it expects to represent more than 80 per cent of its projected growth through 2020: New York, London, Beijing, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, Mexico City, Barcelona, and Milan.

It also said it will make its apps, where shoppers can find and buy sneakers, available in more countries.

Nike's new "Express Lane" initiative allowing customers to get products faster, which already operates in North America and Western Europe, but be rolled out in Asia.

Nike, which is based in Beaverton, Oregon, said the jobs cuts represent about two per cent of its 70,000 employees around the world.

The company has also launched what it calls a new Consumer Direct Offense, a faster pipeline to serve shoppers with customisation options.

Nike shares fell more than two per cent after the announcement, but were still trading up 4.7 per cent for the year to date.