Footwear sales rose 40 percent for Dick’s Sporting Goods last year. The looming question is: How much of that increase to more than 2.56 billion, or 21 percent of all sales, is attributable to higher allocations of key Nike styles in 2021?

According to the retailer’s latest annual report, the Swoosh was the largest of its 1,400 vendors last year, accounting for 17 percent of its purchases. But footwear remains the smallest of the retailer’s three primary product categories, trailing both hardlines (up 22% to $5.41 billion) and apparel (up 30% to $4.13 billion). Meanwhile, DKS own vertical brands, ranging from CALIA and DSG to its new VRST brand for men, represented 14 percent of the retailer’s consolidated sales last year, or $1.7 billion in total.

“We consider our vertical brand strategy to be a key area of opportunity to increase productivity in our stores and online,” wrote the retailer.

Elsewhere, Dick’s is promising to further improve its digital experience this year through expanded digitalization, additional features and enhancements for its customers, and more investments in instore technology “to further improve fulfillment efficiency.”

E-commerce sales rose 81 percent in FY21 to account for 21 percent of all net sales, or more than $2.58 billion, up from 16 penetration in FY19 and 12 percent penetration in FY16. Dick’s ended 2021 with 861 brick-and-mortar locations, including 131 specialty concept formats. Half, or 433 doors, were in the nine states of CA, FL, IL, NY, NC, OH, PA, TX, and VA.

Annual advertising expense, net of co-operative reimbursements from vendors, rose 40 percent at Dick’s in 2021 to $410.9 million versus $293.4 million in 2020 and $338.7 million in 2019.