In recent years, the European outdoor industry has experienced exceptional growth and retailers in this sector are fast becoming major players in the sporting goods business. Since 2011, the online sales of French sports goods manufacturer Ekosport have risen steadily, which is why they have decided to expand internationally in E-Commerce.
Ekosport started life in 2007, selling a range of downhill skiing equipment online. Due to business success in the web, Ekosport set up a store located in Frontenex (near Albertville) in the French Alps. Quickly earning a reputation for excellent customer service with the outdoor community, it’s grown to become one of France’s leading ski and outdoor retailers. Today it offers an extensive collection of outdoor clothing, products and equipment for a range of specialist adventure activities, including alpine skiing, snowboarding, hiking and cross-country skiing.
Part of Groupe Frasteya, a sport and fashion distributor, Ekosport has a strong retail DNA. Committed to providing customers with the largest selection of winter sports apparel and equipment at the best possible prices, the company’s commercial success has been built on providing competitively priced current season ranges from top brands and selected offers on past season products.
With ambitions to extend the depth and breadth of its online commerce operations and pursue a fast-paced expansion into new European and international markets, this leading French retail specialist needed a new e-commerce platform to support its internationalization and multi-channel retailing vision.
Ekosport had several key strategic development areas in mind for its e-commerce overhaul. To maximize revenue generation on its core winter sports lines during the November-February prime demand timeframe, Ekosport needed an e-commerce platform that would enable it to rapidly and cost-effectively extend the catalog of seasonal products on offer.
To extend its international reach, Ekosport needed a powerful e-commerce platform that would support the adaption and fine tuning of product selections, while delivering the language and payment localizations necessary to transact in multiple regions with confidence.
Also guaranteed best product pricing is a key element of the Ekosport retail proposition, and a set of processes are in place to ensure that should a customer purchase a product, and subsequently find it cheaper elsewhere, they can request and receive a refund on the price difference. Customers are also able to utilize voucher codes to access additional promotional discounts on selected purchases.
Which challenges and issues also faced Ekosport, you can read in our success story in detail here.
