Nike released the Vegam Run on November 1, its first running shoe designed specifically for India, priced at 3,795 rupees and sold through Flipkart and a short list of stores.
Nike’s presence in the country has leaned on cricket and lifestyle rather than performance running, which leaves the category open at exactly the moment participation is climbing.
Local development also shortens the feedback loop. A faster cycle lets a second version be corrected by real use instead of by a panel in another hemisphere.
The risk is that a market-specific shoe becomes a market-specific discount. Brands that localise price without localising service usually leave as quickly as they arrived.
