10 eCommerce Stores That've Made the "A" Team

The sporting goods industry is huge. It’s a $63 billion dollar market in the US alone, but only a few retailers are doing what it takes to impress their fans; offer an outstanding online experience.

Sporting goods retailers that've been around for decades know this and are taking full advantage of online retail. One of which is MVP retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods. Just last year their online sales grew by 19.5% and plan on continuing to improve their eCommerce efforts.

Then there’s Foot Locker, the retail chain that’s been around since 1974, whose annual online sales are approaching $1 billion.

To stay relevant in this industry retailers need to embrace omni-channel strategies to stay on top of the market or hone in on their eCommerce stores and start creating game-changing digital experiences for online shoppers.

Today we’ll look at 10 sporting goods stores that are excelling at their eCommerce game and have made the “A” team.

1. Arc'teryx

Arc'teryx is a local success story here in Vancouver that makes high-quality and technical outdoor clothing and sporting goods. They’ve found success online through direct to consumer sales and leveraging a creative and engaging content strategy.

Arc’teryx wear is technical as it’s made for real mountaineers and outdoors enthusiasts. As such, finding the right apparel for the activity can be a bit confusing. Arc’teryx wants to make sure their fans pick the right apparel for the job so they’ve implemented a shell finder filtering system that matches the right jacket to the activity. Making it effortless for their fans to find the right gear.

Arc’teryx also has an app called MCR–Mountain Condition Reports that The Jibe helps run smoothly. It serves as an incredibly valuable resource for their target market.

2. Go Ruck

GoRuck is an all American made concept, created by ex Special Forces Jason McCarthy. “Rucking” as it’s called is when a person adds weight to their backpack and goes for a trek to get exercise. The unique eCommerce sporting good retailer sells rucksacks, weights, apparel, and other rucking related items.

The GoRuck site, recently rebuilt on the Mozu platform, has experienced tremendous growth. With mobile conversions increasing by 65% and online revenue growing 48%, the new design and platform is really propelling GoRuck into “A” team status.

3. Gameday Mouthguards

Gameday Mouthguards is an Australian mouthguard manufacturer that offers a unique eCommerce experience to their customers. The fully responsive and engaging store design allows shoppers to easily flow through the ordering process of a custom and hand-picked final product.

Built on the Lemonstand eCommerce platform, there’s a simple 3 step shopping experience where customers can customize their mouthguard impression kit with a unique colour and style, make the mould, ship it back to Gameday for them to cast the final product, and then in under 9 days you get the final product returned back to you.

A seamless, “A” team worthy, experience that beats going to the dentist any day.

4. Rezlo

Rezlo, a premium, USA made, running apparel company, creates an exceptional minimalist shopping experience with a fresh and creative design. With just a handful of products available and an eCommerce store that’s effortless to use and navigate on any device, shopping on Relzo is a breeze.

Their optimized product pages and checkout experience earns them a spot on the “A” team roster.

5. Dicks sporting goods

As one of the biggest players in the game, Dicks Sporting Goods still manages to foster a great eCommerce shopping experience. And they put up numbers prove it!

The omni-channel retailer which operates over 644 physical stores have been seeing brick and mortar sales decline yet eCommerce sales experience double-digit growth.

They’re continuing to invest in eCommerce and this year will be moving their platform in-house in an effort to save $25 million per year.

They’ve found that investing in omni-channel commerce has enabled them to secure 15.7% of total sales coming from eCommerce, up 5% from the previous year.

6. Under Armour

Under Armour, the American sportswear and footwear giant, is a must for the “A” team list. Not only do they have an awesome online store that makes shopping enjoyable, but they couple their shop with helpful complimentary apps that resonate with their target market.

These apps include things like “MyFitnessPal” which tracks your eating habits and diet, or “Under Armour Record” that keeps track of your workouts and progress. This useful content keeps Under Armour customers engaged and the brand top of mind. And it’s helped them see a 28% boost in eCommerce sales in Q2 of 2016.

7. Foot Locker

A retailer that’s been around since 1974 and continues to thrive is clearly doing something right. That something is the fact they’ve listened to what modern consumers want; a seamless shopping experience.

Where the company really stands out is through the use of their social media. They’re constantly on top of what their consumers are using and already have been utilizing Instagram Stories, Facebook Live and Snapchat.

eCommerce sales are nearing $1 billion and experiencing double-digit growth for Foot Locker. Foot Locker’s CFO said, in response to the highly competitive market, that they increased investment in driving traffic to their website.

That increase in traffic paid off and earned them a spot on the “A” team.

8. BSN Sports

BSN sells is a B2B sporting goods retailer. With over 40% of their traffic coming from mobile devices, they needed to step up to the plate. They switched to the Magento platform and upped their game with a responsive design; an absolute must for all modern day retailers. Since the switch they’ve doubled their mobile conversion rate and have reached $750 million in sales.

9. Boathouse

Boathouse is the number one manufacturer/merchandiser of collegiate and high school sports uniforms. What makes Boathouse unique is the ability their customers have to create custom uniform designs, spin up their own mini-site, and then start selling those uniquely created designs.

Built on the Mozu platform, the sporting goods manufacturer has over 1500 websites that are now operated by their customers but still run under the Boathouse domain. This type of next-level eCommerce thinking earned them a spot on the “A” team.

10. LA Lakers

The LA Lakers store is the Shopify Plus built eCommerce engine behind the famous NBA Basketball team. This is the go-to site for all the exclusive and authentic Lakers sports gear.

The store is a visually striking, responsive site that is a cinch to use. Their robust mega-menu makes selecting and browsing products simple both on mobile and desktop versions. After they made the switch to Shopify from their legacy system they reported that they had the most successful jersey launch ever in terms of quantity sold.

Take away

Teams that don't put in the work don't walk away with the Stanley Cup or the Commissioner's Trophy. Want to be on the A team? You’ve got to put in the work to ensure your site is mobile-friendly, beautifully designed, scalable and on top of that, produce helpful, engaging content.

What does your eCommerce store do that's got your fans cheering?