Amazon said to add Nike shoes to lineup

Amazon.com Inc. will begin selling Nike shoes directly through a brand-registry program designed to keep counterfeit goods off the site, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The approach lets Nike Inc. take greater control over how its products are sold, helping ensure that knockoff shoes aren’t offered by third parties on the e-commerce marketplace, said the person, who asked not to be named because the arrangement isn’t yet public.

Shoes are popular products for counterfeiters, and Nike’s global brand is an especially alluring target. That’s put pressure on the athletic-apparel giant to police online sales more aggressively.

Lindsay Drucker Mann, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said earlier that Nike may be close to forging a closer relationship with Amazon. Currently, Nike is available on Amazon’s Zappos site, but not directly through the parent company.

It’s unclear how much more Nike merchandise might ultimately flow through Amazon, but the prospect of a special relationship between the two companies sent shoe-retailer stocks tumbling. Foot Locker Inc. plunged as much as 11 percent, while Finish Line Inc. fell 5.9 percent. Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. dropped more than 9 percent. European sellers Sports Direct International PLC and JD Sports Fashion PLC declined as well.