4 min read
SGN Sport and Team Sportia - "The online store becomes a digital shop window"
SGN Sport
SGN Sport is a purchasing organization and specialists in the operation of sports and leisure stores. They offer all kinds of services that a sports store could possibly need and they work to free up valuable time for store owners and make sure they feel good. SGN Sport today has close to 250 affiliated stores around the country. One of the groups connected to SGN Sport is Team Sportia and today there are 55 stores in Sweden. Read more information about how SGN Sport works here.
Team sportia
Team Sportia was already created in 1989 when a large group met to merge the then Fri Team and Sportia. Then the future goal was to invest in team sports and the team. The slogan "Sports stores that raise the bar" echoed across Sports Sweden and today Team Sportia is one of Sweden's leading sports chains that focuses on outdoor training such as running, active leisure, and cycling.
The chain is built on franchise stores, which means that the members have the opportunity to benefit from an already existing brand and a functioning business concept. Franchising is based on a collaboration between two independent parties where the members get access to a finished brand, marketing, central campaigns and economies of scale in purchasing.
Maria Engman, Marketing Manager SGN Sport / Team Sportia, tells us more about their business:
Team Sportia is one of Sweden's leading sports chains that focuses on outdoor training such as cycling, running and training. We offer our customers everything they need to have an active leisure time.
Why did you start a webshop in addition to your physical stores?
We and the affiliated stores have continued to focus heavily on the physical store, but this does not mean that we ignore digital visibility. The online store will be a digital shop window that is open around the clock. And we know that many of us do our research online, before shopping in a physical store.
SGN Sport has several central websites, one of them is teamsportia.se, which functions as a central marketplace. We drive traffic to this page, but once there, the customer chooses which local store he wants to shop from. If you click on a product on teamsportia.se, you get a list of which local stores sell the product online.
Why did you choose Abicart as your e-commerce platform?
We wanted a simple and user-friendly platform, with the possibility of external connections and a good, Swedish support function. The owners of the stores are often salespeople, economists, marketers, buyers and digital experts. Abicart suits most of our stores, as it is easy to manage their online stores.
All stores in our group are independent, but we at SGN Sport have set up ready-made templates with layout, images and text to make it easier for the stores to get started. Together with SGN Sports and Abicart's onboarding team, it works really well, and you can be up and running in a couple of weeks.
Do you have any tips for others who want to start an online store?
Starting up the webshop is easy, the hard part is getting the routines right. Deliveries must not wait, customer matters must not be left lying around. It is important to ensure that the online store is filled and that the marketing is underway. I recommend finding a person in the store who can be responsible, and has the online store in focus. If the owner or store manager must also ensure this task, it is easy to lose momentum.
Which subscription with us do you use and why?
Now we have the Plus subscription, but when we are done with the implementation of our business system, we will switch to PRO.
SGN Sport
Team Sportia
"The online store becomes a digital storefront that is open around the clock"
What do you sell in your stores?Team Sportia is one of Sweden's leading sports chains that focuses on outdoor training such as cycling, running and training. We offer our customers everything they need to have an active leisure time.
Why did you start a webshop in addition to your physical stores?
We and the affiliated stores have continued to focus heavily on the physical store, but this does not mean that we ignore digital visibility. The online store will be a digital shop window that is open around the clock. And we know that many of us do our research online, before shopping in a physical store.
SGN Sport has several central websites, one of them is teamsportia.se, which functions as a central marketplace. We drive traffic to this page, but once there, the customer chooses which local store he wants to shop from. If you click on a product on teamsportia.se, you get a list of which local stores sell the product online.
Why did you choose Abicart as your e-commerce platform?
We wanted a simple and user-friendly platform, with the possibility of external connections and a good, Swedish support function. The owners of the stores are often salespeople, economists, marketers, buyers and digital experts. Abicart suits most of our stores, as it is easy to manage their online stores.
All stores in our group are independent, but we at SGN Sport have set up ready-made templates with layout, images and text to make it easier for the stores to get started. Together with SGN Sports and Abicart's onboarding team, it works really well, and you can be up and running in a couple of weeks.
Do you have any tips for others who want to start an online store?
Starting up the webshop is easy, the hard part is getting the routines right. Deliveries must not wait, customer matters must not be left lying around. It is important to ensure that the online store is filled and that the marketing is underway. I recommend finding a person in the store who can be responsible, and has the online store in focus. If the owner or store manager must also ensure this task, it is easy to lose momentum.
Which subscription with us do you use and why?
Now we have the Plus subscription, but when we are done with the implementation of our business system, we will switch to PRO.
SGN Sport
Team Sportia