Nike Adjustable Shoe Insole
Nike is a fortune 500 company with many distinct innovations in the running shoe market and is a leading player gathering an approximated 24% – 25% of the running shoe market, with it remaining as the top of the market despite competition from brands such as On and Hoka (Nike Inc. Market share relative to its competitors as of Q3 2023 – CSIMarket).
Current Technological Innovation:
Nike’s most recent innovation is its ReactX Technology that is aimed at optimizing energy return with a lower carbon footprint. “ReactX is an advanced foam technology using a research and development with refinement over a 5-year test period; to optimize running performance with inclusion of decreased carbon footprint by at least 43% thru reduced energy in manufacturing process and an increased energy return of 13%” per Nike.com (Nike Releases Its ReactX Technology, Aiming to Optimize Energy Return, Lower Carbon Footprint, 2024). Nike’s initiative was to find balance between runner’s performance needs and the environmental impact of foam production by using injection molding thru intense research and development. This advancement will affect Nike’s total bottom line (TBL) and its goal of “Move to Zero” initiative of decreasing its environmental impact (planet) by reducing greenhouse emissions and waste to improve their planetary bottom line of this framework. Using this innovative advancement in its integrated TBL strategy, Nike aims to create long-term value for shareholders and other stakeholders (Nike, 2024).
Projected Upcoming Innovation: Adjustable Shoe soles / inserts
Diversity in the running shoe and specifically within runner categorical dynamics such as: beginner, intermediate, advanced, elite, and professional can create unique challenges regarding needs and wants in any style of shoe, generally due to different concepts in running. Common classification of the three running phases in strides is loading (where foot makes initial contact with the ground), propulsion (push-off from the ground to move forward, and recovery (period when the leg swings forward in the air to prepare for the next stride) or even types of runners based on style such as neutral, overpronation, and under pronation. Some further metrics of tracked devices are ground contact time or vertical oscillation (HOW TO RUN: UNDERSTANDING THE PHASES OF RUNNING – Precision). Lastly, running levels may refer to metrics tracked by devices such as: ground contact time (amount of time each foot spends on the ground), vertical oscillation (amount of up-and-down movement of the torso during the run), stride length (distance covered with each stride), and cadence (the number of steps per minute) (Running Dynamics: Garmin Technology, 2022).
Due to different needs related due diversity of runners a new innovation of an adjustable sole / insert would allow individual runners to make adjustments based on their needs to obtain maximum efficiency of each foot strike and stride with least effort and greater momentum of energy return. When the foot touches down against the ground, it absorbs shock from the ground (heel) and as the foot begins to push off of the ground again, its acts as a rigid lever known as the “Windlass Mechanism” and is used to describe the action of the foot per Foot Solutions (How Poor Foot Health Affects Your Knees, Hips, and Back – Foot Solutions, 2025).
Soles:
- Thicker heels absorb impact thus reducing stress on joints and especially when running on hard surfaces, making the run more comfortable, with less risk of issues such as stress fractures, shin splints, and joint pain. Additionally, a thicker heel can provide stability and reduce strain on Achilles tendon and calf muscles (What Heel-to-Toe Drop is, and Why It Matters, 2016).
- Use of replaceable sole heel module consisting of air bags or foam that could be used interdependently based on specific running needs and conditions of each runner and the terrain or style of running.
- Use of replaceable sole ball of the shoe module consisting of air bags or foam that could be used interdependently based on specific running needs and conditions of each runner and the terrain or style of running.
- Use of the sole modules could aid in decreasing pressure that causes Metatarsalgia (Mayo Clinic, 2019), decrease risk of plantar fasciitis and other foot injury and conditions (How Poor Foot Health Affects Your Knees, Hips, and Back – Foot Solutions, 2025).
My proposed research design and objectives are:
My research design will use secondary data used for analyzing data on different types of impact recovery with energy return innovations to determine which are primarily used by runners, along with data within Nike’s data base to identify trends among consumers to determine which type of replaceable soles would be most efficient and wanted by runners so that they can assess their own needs and try different configurations to find their optimal shoe pairing. By using existing data to start with the initial cost can be controlled and if required more data can be obtained based on current findings to simplify additional needed data to control costs.
Secondly, using market research of runners by offering them to try shoes at running events with survey at the end of the run, purchase discount for future purchase if they try product and give initial survey after use, or even giving pairs of shoes with soles away at large running events to top athletes for promotional purposes and they give feedback that can be used for research and development or even marketing once product is launched as a brand influencer or ambassador.
My objectives with my research design are to find the correct balance of shoe and how many different types of insoles to introduce to give greater flexibility to runners, while also controlling overhead and production costs of having excessive products that will not be purchased. Also, analyzing data from information received from surveys and current data in Nike’s data warehouse to determine style, colors, and costs of production, packaging, transportation, and the sales of different types of shoe products. Initially, these products will be marketed toward the running shoe niche market as they will be the first to want to try a new innovative product, to see if it improves their running times, cushions the impact during running to decrease fatigue, how the shoe feels and fits to decrease risk of blistering, and also overall weight of the shoe. “Runners” usually purchase more than 1 shoe due to the many needs of different types of runs based on length of run or even terrain and this makes it a very expensive sport. Therefore, purchasing a set of shoes that fit well and designed the way a runner prefers thru simply adjusting the sole of the shoe to fit the type run or terrain would be more efficient for the runner and more cost efficient for a manufacturer and would also be better for TBL regarding person, planet, and profit (helps runners, better for planet with less production and energy use, and can increase profitability my decreasing overall cost of transportation and production processes making it sustainable).
References
How Poor Foot Health Affects Your Knees, Hips and Back – Foot Solutions | Comfort Footwear Specialists. (2025, June 10). Foot Solutions | Comfort Footwear Specialists. https://www.footsolutions.ie/how-poor-foot-health-affects-your-knees-hips-and-back/
HOW TO RUN: UNDERSTANDING THE PHASES OF RUNNING – Precision. (n.d.). https://prefitpt.com/how-to-run-understanding-the-phases-of-running-2/
Mayo Clinic. (2019). Metatarsalgia – Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/metatarsalgia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354790
Nike. (2024, March 12). Through the Power of Community, NIKE, Inc. Advances Toward a Better World for All. Nike.com. https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/fy23-nike-inc-impact-report
Nike Inc Market share relative to its competitors, as of Q3 2023 – CSIMarket. (n.d.). Csimarket.com. https://csimarket.com/stocks/competitionSEG2.php?code=NKE#google_vignette
Nike Releases Its ReactX Technology, Aiming To Optimize Energy Return, Lower Carbon Footprint. (2024, July 15). Nike.com. https://www.nike.com/a/reactx-foam-release-info?msockid=2fb4bd51c00361751a21a997c18060c6
Running Dynamics | Garmin Technology. (2022). Garmin.com. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garmin-technology/running-science/running-dynamics/
What Heel-to-Toe Drop Is, and Why It Matters | Zappos.com. (2016). Zappos.com. https://www.zappos.com/c/what-is-heel-to-toe-drop?msockid=2fb4bd51c00361751a21a997c18060c6
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