Canadian outdoor retailer meets digital expectations with hybris

Calgary – When the concept of things changing at “Internet speed” is discussed, often overlooked is the fact that the Internet itself changes at Internet speed. E-commerce websites must offer functionality and overall shopping experience on par with the latest online consumer expectations. Canadian specialty outdoor retailer Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters, which operates 13 stores in western Canada as well as a website, has had to face this issue.



“Our original site was not meeting consumer demand for current capabilities,” said Adam Dorval, manager of e-commerce and digital strategy at Wholesale Sports parent company UFA Co-operative Ltd. “We decided to start site redesign with the platform.”



So in 2013, Wholesale Sports submitted an RFP for a new e-commerce platform. The retailer ultimately selected the B2C Commerce platform from



hybris Software, an SAP company, due to its features and functionality.

Wholesale Sports also based the selection on the ease of integrating the hybris solution with existing internal systems such as ExactTarget marketing automation, PowerReviews and LiveChat customer engagement, and Warehouse Mobile Solutions inventoWy management system.



“hybris allowed us to post dynamic content based on customer behavior and purchase history,” explained Dorval. “Also they were new to the North American market, and it was nice to be on the forefront after being behind all those years.”



After selecting hybris B2C Commerce, Wholesale Sports then selected Thinkwrap Commerce as an integration partner and Cult Collective as branding and digital agency. The four companies spent two months going through a discovery process, followed by an eight-month development process that used a hybrid approach of the agile and waterfall development models.



Wholesale Sports went live with B2C Commerce in January 2015. Since then, the retailer has experienced a 27% jump in year-over-year conversions, as well as a 35% increase in year-over-year transactions, all while reducing marketing spend. With hybris, Wholesale Sports continues to roll out new, enhanced functionality each month, with a focus on personalization.

“We now have filtered user navigation and intelligent search,” commented Doeval. “Customers can identify themselves as a hunter, angler or camper when they create a user profile, and we moved legacy customers into profiles. Customers are taken to a different home page depending on their interests”



Wholesale Sports plans to continue its e-commerce personalization efforts by providing an individually tailored online customer experience based on customer behavior and history, rather than offering a prepared experience based on self-selected attributes.



The retailer is also taking a decidedly omnichannel approach to e-commerce with plans to tie the site more closely to the store experience.



Ultimately, Wholesale Sports is basing its hopes for growth in the competitive Canadian e-commerce market on the success of the hybris platform.