When a customer walks into your sporting goods store, chances are they aren’t just looking to grab what they want and leave – many customers today make the trip to a physical store because they’re looking for a tailored, personalized experience. Whether they want to try out a new set of golf clubs, get a fitting for tennis shoes, or talk to a trained consultant about the best cycling gear, customers are looking for businesses that understand and cater to their needs.
With so much competition on the market, sporting goods retailers need a robust business management software that can handle a diverse set of services, simplify their daily tasks, all the while empowering them to elevate customer experiences across channels and touchpoints. That could include adding functionality for ticket sales or bookings, managing customer loyalty programs, eCommerce capabilities, and more.
LS Central has been helping hundreds of sporting goods retailers around the world run their business efficiently, while also providing them with the tools to tailor the shopping experience to meet growing demands from consumers. As it covers the entire business with one database, LS Central gives retailers the flexibility and agility they need to adapt their business strategy and retain customer loyalty.
Here are some real-life examples of how LS Central has been supporting sporting goods retailers around the globe.
Get a complete overview of inventory
Accurate inventory management is a big challenge for many sporting goods businesses. Larger retailers tend to carry thousands of SKUs, from clothing in different variants to equipment for different types of sports. Others may carry hundreds of products across multiple brands. To manage so many items for multiple locations, retailers need a software solution that can help them keep track of what’s been sold in all store locations and on the eCommerce site. They also need to know what should be reordered and in what quantities per variant, and how to effectively distribute these items across the chain.
Panatrade is a multi-brand sporting goods retailer in Indonesia. Because they are responsible for operating numerous sports apparel and equipment brands in the South-East Asian market, they needed a solution that could communicate seamlessly between their stores and warehouses to serve customers faster.
LS Central gives Panatrade real-time visibility over their inventory, which significantly improves daily operations in the warehouse, including sending and receiving goods and order fulfillment. The company can also track specific product variants separately, making it easier to see which colors, sizes, styles, etc. sell most across all their stores, ensuring they always have the right stock on hand. “LS Central is easy to adapt and easy to operate, while also offering a simplified flow of transactions,” Pak Aminta, Director of Panatrade, told us.
Improve customer satisfaction
Some sporting goods retailers heavily rely on specific seasons to meet the needs of their business, so ensuring customer loyalty is one of the most vital aspects of their operation.
Mountain Air is the largest sport and lifestyle retailer in the Verbier ski resort in Switzerland, where the winter holidays are a peak time of year for the business. Because they offer customers rental equipment, retail, and restaurants, they needed a solution that could handle all these services together. Not only: they needed a scalable solution that could manage peaks of up to:
- 100 rental reservations on the website
- 500 rental contracts, with up to
- 20 being created at the same time
- 1,000 sales orders
- 10,000 sales lines
- 10,000 financial transactions (ledger postings)
By implementing LS Central, Mountain Air was able to see significant improvements in their customer service. They can manage their requirements easily, and the software also enables them to connect their eCommerce site with an online rental portal for equipment and to a loyalty app that allows members and their family to collect points and rewards for use online and in the resort’s stores.
“LS Central supports us with reliable, timely information which enables us to engage with our customers in a personalized way, and thus increases the overall customer satisfaction,” says Sam Bartholomew at Mountain Air Verbier.
Deliver consistent experiences across channels
How can you provide customers with the same level of service online as in-store? For renowned athletic apparel and footwear brand adidas, the customer experience is at the heart of their strategy, which means providing them with excellent service no matter where they shop is key.
“Until now, our focus was on eCommerce, but we need to make sure that we have a seamless customer journey in retail too," Nabila Rahim, Senior Product Owner at adidas, told us.
adidas uses LS Central in 1350 of their retail stores across the globe.
With LS Central, adidas can unite their eCommerce and physical stores so customers can see real-time product availability online and find which items are in stock at their preferred locations. In-store, staff can use the inventory app on mobile POS to send an item order to the queue, where another employee will fetch it and deliver it to the customer on the shop floor. This not only makes serving customers easier, but faster, too, by bridging the gap between digital and physical experiences.
“With any changes that will come, whether it is a pandemic or whatever else, we will always be faster to adjust and deliver,” Rahim concludes.
Gain operational efficiency
LS Central software is also modular – this means that companies can easily add extra functionality depending on their requirements. This makes it a great solution for sport companies that operate multiple revenue streams, like in the case of football club Juventus F.C. They needed a comprehensive solution that could support the retail portion of their business with a wide range of features.
Since implementing LS Central, Juventus F.C. has gained real-time access to transaction data in all its stores and can feel confident that the system will remain operational – even if the Wi-Fi goes out. This is especially important during football games where customers want to be served quickly so they can get back to their seats. LS Central software empowers Juventus to stay on top of customer purchasing habits and adjust to new trends when needed, and the reliability of the system ensures they never miss out on a sale, especially during their busiest seasons.
“The LS Retail software solution meets our needs both in the short and the long term, as regards both retail and financial management,” Mauro Zanetti, PMO Manager at Juventus told us, “The new system has all necessary features to meet and exceed the requirements of users.”
Bring everything together in one powerful platform
While great customer service is important for any sporting goods retailer, for specialty sporting goods stores, the demand for service is even higher. DRAG Bicycles in Bulgaria sell a range of their own middle to top level bicycles designed and manufactured under Velomania Ltd, which they sell in a chain of 15 stores, plus five online stores. For DRAG Bicycles, having a system that understands their requirements when it comes to customer service is exceptionally important for serving their niche clientele. Previously, they were struggling with:
- No real-time business overview and control
- Operational efficiency issues Inconsistent and unreliable data
- Significant delay in management reporting. This was due to a lack of integration with the financial management system they were using
- No single source of customer information
Today, DRAG Bicycles uses LS Central software to manage their entire business centrally. Using a single, all-encompassing system means they don’t have to worry about managing complex integrations that could slow down their business – or deliver incorrect business data. “LS Central enables us to effectively perform all accounting operations, monitor liabilities, eCommerce, physical store operations, inventory, fixed assets, bank payments, and plan and manufacture bicycles at a high level,” says Dragomir Kouzov, owner and manager at Velomania Ltd.
If you are running a chain of sporting goods stores, you know what a key role your technology plays in your customers’ experience of your brand. Don’t let outdated software systems hold your business back from reaching its true potential. Contact our experts and discover how LS Central can help your sporting goods business become a champion, like adidas.
