Search
Close this search box.

Case study: skating to a European omnichannel success

DeliveryX

Scandinavia’s largest online skate shop, SkatePro, has won national and international awards for its impressive growth. Focusing on the customer experience has brought the Danish company the prestigious gold award at FDIH’s annual e-commerce award show, and then a silver in the entrepreneur category at the European E-commerce Awards. The company is now in the process of opening a network of its own physical stores, as its popularity grows across Europe.
“The e-commerce awards mean a lot to us. It is a great recognition of all our employees, but for our customers the awards are no big deal,” said Carsten Schmidt, Partner at SkatePro. According to Schmidt, it’s the customer focus that makes SkatePro stand out from its competitors.

“We focus on the customers in everything that we offer. We believe that the experience is essential for the customers to choose us. Our product selection, customer service, delivery options and payment methods are adapted to our customers’ needs and wants, and it is constantly being optimised in terms of trends and demand.”

It has always been possible for customers to pick up their parcels at SkatePro’s warehouse in Hinnerup, Denmark, and now the company plans to start opening its own network of stores. SkatePro currently delivers to 26 countries in Europe, offering free shipping on orders over £49 to the UK, and free shipping across Europe on orders over €199. It has a 365-day returns policy, and offers free returns to UK customers.

Its operations are run on EDI-Soft’s carrier and shipping systems.

Delivery, return and offline is essential for customers

Delivery options in online shops are an overlooked element nowadays. A study* shows that up to 48% of consumers in the UK leave online shops due to lack of delivery options.

“Consumers today expect freedom of choice also in terms of delivery options. When the Danish online shop Cykelpartner.dk introduced several delivery possibilities, they increased their conversion rate by 25%. It is clearly a sign that customers demand more alternatives in relation to delivery options in online shops,” according to EDI-Soft vice president Steffen Pasgaard.

Steffen Pasgaard  EDI-Soft

Steffen Pasgaard EDI-Soft

SkatePro plans on opening several physical stores to let customers try out products before purchase, which Pasgaard regards as a wise move.

“Click-and-collect and omnichannel are trends that put “pure players” such as Amazon, who only offer online sales, under pressure. In return, retailers like Macy’s, who combine offline sales in department stores with online sales, are gaining market share. The offline store becomes a kind of warehouse and showroom for the online shop, where customers are able to try on and not least return items. Good return options are also crucial to a good customer experience.”

Pasgaard says he is confident SkatePro will perform well in the future as they repeatedly manage to spot trends in the market and meet customers’ needs and wants time and again.

Carsten Schmidt, SkatePro

Carsten Schmidt, SkatePro

“We have good procedures for starting up in new countries in terms of language adaptation, delivery management software, phone number setup and so on. Therefore, we have the best prerequisites for success in new markets. We are very excited about the development of our new British and French online shops, as they are huge ecommerce markets,” SkatePro’s Carsten Schmidt concludes.

SkatePro takeaways:

  • SkatePro was established in 1996 and is headquartered in Hinnerup, Denmark.
  • SkatePro has a total of 72 employees with 12 different nationalities.
  • SkatePro sends between 300 and 3,000 parcels each day with peak season in the summer and at Christmas. It sent just 10,000 parcels in 2010.
  • In 2013 SkatePro won the growth ecommerce award at the Association of Danish Internet Trading (FDIH) award show.

Read More

Register for Newsletter

Group 4 Copy 3Created with Sketch.

Receive 3 newsletters per week

Group 3Created with Sketch.

Gain access to all Top500 research

Group 4Created with Sketch.

Personalise your experience on IR.net