Athletic apparel company is joining the ranks of the programmers.
Nike has published three open-source projects on GitHub, including a JSON parsing framework, a distributed tracing solution for Java, and a lightweight logging library written in Swift. In addition, Nike open-sourced the code that runs its own site on GitHub.
It appears that the retailer, which also has several mobile apps, may be looking to boost its technology image to lure new tech talent, speculated. Nike joins Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Adidas and other retail brands with GitHub accounts.
Walmart released its Open sources cloud code last year in an effort to compete with Amazon, as Innovative Retail Technologies reported. OneOps cloud technology was released in open source to help free retailers locked into their cloud providers. The move meant that developers could use Walmart’s cloud for pay-as-you-go storage and transfer data in and out of it at any time.
Nike’s jump to open source appears to be an effort to improve brand image and attract new technical talent to the company. A number of traditional retailers are branching out into the tech space, and the competition to attract good talent is fierce.
Nike already has 10 iPhone apps and two iPad apps on the App store, so it has its foot strongly in the tech world even before this release. Nike also has an entire website dedicated to developer APIs for Nike Fuel, Tech Crunch reported. And use of the latest tech developments is also crucial in attracting the attention of pre-teen and teenage consumers – a key demographic for Nike – who are part of the iGen (those born from mid-90s to late 2010s), as Sport Techie pointed out.
Sport Techie calls Nike “the Batman of tech companies,” flying quietly beneath the radar with their iPhone and iPad apps while developing wearable tech such as Nike Fuel. The expansion of its brand into the technology space marks a new path for Nike, which it is attacking with the ferocity of an Olympic athlete.
