Backcountry explores customer data for merchandising insight

A specialty digital outdoor retailer is applying customer preferences across a wide variety of merchandising functions.

Backcountry, which sells outdoor gear and apparel through several specialized e-commerce sites, is leveraging the First Insight consumer-driven Experience Management (XM) platform to make faster and better merchandising decisions. As a result, the company intends to drive sales and margin gains for products from its owned Backcountry Gear & Apparel and Stoic brands, as well as its assortment of national brand products.

After conducting an extensive market assessment, Backcountry selected the XM platform because of its ability to deliver actionable insights across a variety of functions, like product design and selection, pricing, white space analysis, brand value assessment, and consumer segmentation and targeting. The retailer also obtains measurable ROI metrics through the platform’s proprietary value tracking capability.

“Backcountry was looking for a partner that could help us achieve current strategic initiatives and had the experience and platform breadth to grow with us. After performing our due diligence, we determined First Insight was that partner,” said Melanie Cox, CEO of Backcountry. “First Insight has a strong track record of delivering results in the sporting goods and outdoor sectors, and Backcountry will be leveraging that experience as we make First Insight an integral part of our go-to-market process.”

The Backcountry family of companies includes Competitive Cyclist, MotoSport.com, Steep&Cheap, and Germany-based Bergfreunde.de.