SportScheck reports that the use of tablets has boosted annual sales in its stores by an estimated €10 million, while reducing the number of product returns by half. After launching its in-store app three years ago, SportScheck managed to send out 130,000 new customer cards and to update 90,000 customer records.
These interesting data were given by SportScheck's chief digital officer, Jan Kegelberg, at the Ispo Digitize Summit in Munich at the end of last month.
With the tablets, the personnel in the store can check, in real time, inventory levels for specific products inside the same store, in other SportScheck stores in Germany and the company's warehouse. The tablet computers also serve as sales support, allowing the staff in the stores to access detailed product information and relevant customer data.
Customers can access the entire product catalog through the tablets operated by the store personnel. Each day, about 150 barcodes are scanned by SportScheck's personnel and more than 300 orders are placed via the in-store app launched in 2015. SportScheck decided to offer Same Day Delivery (SDD) for any items purchased at its stores in Germany in June 2015.
SportScheck plans to update the app by adding more services for its personnel and the end customers. The additional services will include the booking of yoga classes in affiliated fitness studios, ski rentals in the resorts as well as a payment function that will be implemented by the end of this year. The German sporting goods retailer has already begun to set up service stations in its stores where customers can pick up the packed goods along with the receipt for the purchase.
SportScheck tried to implement a technical sales support at its points of sale in 2011, but it didn't work. As a result, after a change of management, the company developed its own in-store app. A positive new factor has been that the saleperson on the floor is credited for the sales generated through his or her tablet.
SportScheck recorded sales of €300 million for the financial year ended last February. While brick-and-mortar sales declined by 1 percent on a same-store basis, the retailer's online business increased by 12.6 percent.
