SportsShoes.com hails full year growth | Retail Bulletin

GENERAL MERCHANDISE NEWS

SportsShoes.com saw its turnover increase by 11% to £90 million in the year to 29 February as it acquired 663,000 new customers.

The online running shoes, running clothing and outdoor gear retailer also secured 749,000 orders from repeat customers.

Established in 1982, Bradford-based SportsShoes.com offers customers more than 17,000 products from 150 global running and outdoor brands.

The retailer said the annual performance was driven by high impact activation initiatives and successful running shoe launches from brands such as Nike, Asics and Hoka.

In January, SportsShoe.com announced an exclusive retail partnership with community running event network Parkrun and also ran activation events at the Tokyo, New York, Boston and Paris marathons throughout the year.

SportsShoes.com managing director Brett Bannister said: “Our mission at SportsShoes.com is to help as many people as possible lead happier, healthier lives through running and fitness.

“Having this focus enables us to continually develop and improve our business for the benefit of our customers, brand partners and people.

“We are also growing our international sales, particularly in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, and feel there is a clear opportunity to establish a premium online retail brand in our space in Europe and beyond.”

SportsShoes.com has invested £4.6 million over the last three years in its people, processes, technologies and facilities. This has included the opening of a £2.5 million creative and tech hub which is home to its 224 employees.

The retailer has also replatformed its UK and European websites to enhance the customer experience.

Bannister added: “Our start for the first quarter of this financial year has been a strong one as we have maintained the momentum we built up over the previous 12 months.

“We know that if we continue to deliver fresh and exciting ideas for our customers and brand partners, the sales will look after themselves.”