On Holding is shifting sales weight to its direct-to-consumer channel as wholesale partners squeeze margins on premium footwear, according to TradingView analysis of the brand's distribution strategy. The move mirrors a broader pattern among athletic brands facing retailer consolidation and promotional pressure in multi-brand doors.
On operates 180 owned stores globally and sells through its website, expanding both while still moving the majority of volume through wholesale accounts including specialty running shops and department stores. The company has not disclosed the exact DTC share split publicly, but investor filings show the channel growing faster than wholesale on a percentage basis. The brand sells running shoes at $150 to $180 retail, a price band where margin control matters.
The mechanism is defensive. Wholesale partners — particularly in North America and Europe — have consolidated into fewer, larger buyers with more pricing leverage. Those retailers now routinely demand markdown allowances, co-op ad funds, and return privileges that erode net revenue per unit. DTC removes that negotiation. On keeps the retail margin, controls the customer file, and avoids the promotional calendar that trains shoppers to wait for sales. The brand can also test colorways and limited releases without a buyer's approval, shortening the product cycle.
For a small physical-product brand selling into similar wholesale pressure, the steal is incremental. Start with one owned channel that costs less than a trade show: a Shopify site with three hero SKUs, shipped from your existing inventory. Price at full retail with no discounting for the first 90 days. Use that period to collect emails and test messaging. Then open one popup or market stall in a neighborhood where your wholesale door already sells — same product, same price, but you keep the margin and the customer data. Run it for eight weekends. Compare the unit economics: if you net more per pair after Shopify fees and popup rent than you do after wholesale terms, you have a scalable DTC model. Expand the site, add a second popup location, and renegotiate wholesale deals with the threat of going direct in their territory.
The broader pattern is margin defense through channel mix. On is not abandoning wholesale — the volume is too large and the distribution too valuable. But every DTC point of share is a point of margin the brand controls, and in a category where product cost is rising and retailer power is consolidating, that control becomes the difference between a sustainable business and a promotionally dependent one. The next move for any brand in this position is to map wholesale accounts by net revenue after all allowances, then build owned channels in the geographic clusters where wholesale nets the least. That data tells you where to open the next store.