John Kim Securing big-ticket sneaker releases is already a challenge in itself. Throw in unpredictable bugs, which many SNKRS users experienced during the Lost And Found 1 Shock Drop on April 20th, and it gets even more difficult. Now consider bots, and buying a pair of high-heat footwear seems like an impossible task. Entering an online lottery to buy a pair of shoes is a far cry from what sneaker culture used to be, but it’s really the only method that is logistically safe and sound. The competition seems a lot more stiff and unfair because of the emergence of those pesky dummy accounts used by those simply looking for financial gain via the sneaker re-selling market, but based on what Nike has revealed, at least there’s a high chance you’re not losing out to these clowns.
In a recent presentation at the Nike S23NYC office, SNKRS GM/VP Lucy Rouse stated that for highly popular sneaker releases, such as the recent Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low OG “Olive” and the recent Lost And Found AJ1 restock, nearly half of the entries are bots, and there are millions of entries for each of those releases. Furthermore, Nike confirms that it receives nearly 12 billion bot entries a month. Additionally the Travis Scott x AJ1 “Reverse Mocha” received nearly 3.8 million entries alone, which means almost 1.9 million were bots.
The good news is that, according to Rouse, Nike has up to a 98% success rate in eliminating bot entries. In recent releases, you might’ve noticed a “Verifying hyperfuse…” screen that appears after you submit your payment for the Draw. This pop-up affirms that the internal system is doing what it can to weed out suspected false accounts, evening the playing field as much as possible.
Nike SNKRS employs a variety of release methods to ensure that the most yearning consumers have the best chance, and the method used depends on the level of interest.
SNKRS Flow is a standard, first-come first-serve release that is typically used for product that is predicted to be readily available.
SNKRS Draw is a lottery entry system that rewards users at random. The Draw window is typically open for ten minutes with a countdown timer, although hotter items have a much smaller window of entry (2-3 minutes without a timer).
Exclusive Access is a unique process in which Nike pre-selects SNKRS users who meet certain criteria (for example: purchased or submitted an entry for a specific previous release). This invitation arrives directly in each SNKRS user’s inbox on the App.
SNKRS Pass/Stash is similar to SNKRS Draw, but is based on a specific region. Only those within the region can enter, and winners will be required to pick up in person.
SNKRS Scratcher requires users to “scratch off” an image within the app. The action of scratching weeds out any bot accounts.
SNKRS Cam requires users to take a photo of a specific image within the app. The action of taking a photo weeds out any bot accounts. Cam was most recently used on the Run The Jewels x Nike SB Dunk release on April 20th.
The above photo is the unique photo utilized for the SNKRS Cam release of the Run The Jewels x Nike SB Dunk Low.
The above photo is an example of the SNKRS Pass release; note that this particular release was limited to residents in the New York City area only.
The above photo is an example of the SNKRS Scratcher release; users must “scratch” off the image to reveal the Dunk. Once revealed, a short animation is revealed and users are presented with the ability to check out.
Nike has also acknowledged the technical difficulties from the infamous Lost And Found Shock Drop, promising that Nike SNKRS and NBHD is “committed to continue to innovate in the ways that we support our users and update our experiences to handle the scale that we see on a daily basis.”
