At Europe's largest skate shop, SkatePro, the company has experienced a tremendous growth in e-commerce and export. Therefore, the company has continuously invested in more storage space and, most recently, a new online scanner solution for the warehouse to ensure fast registration of goods to keep up with the rising demand.
Today, more and more consumers are shopping online, making e-commerce a massive growth area within retail. The increasing online consumption is also something that is noticed by the e-commerce company SkatePro, which was established in 1996 by Jakob Høy Biegel. The company started as a hobby project but has since then grown into an online market leader in action sports, experiencing a steady growth year after year.
SkatePro sells equipment online in 26 countries, employs 160 people and has 22 nationalities represented in customer service. The company has also won the e-commerce award five times. In addition to the online business, SkatePro also has two physical stores in Aarhus and Copenhagen.
The growth in e-commerce is also leaving its mark in the logistics world. More companies require more storage space and implement warehouse solutions that can ensure an efficient registration of goods and shipping process. At SkatePro, it is also very crucial to have an effective warehouse to keep up with the rapid development in online sales. The company has continuously expanded its storage capacity and has 11,500 m2 storage space today.
- Over the years, we have created a scalable setup and a model that makes it possible to reach more countries. Today we ship more than 700,000 packages each year, which is why we must run our warehouse as efficiently as possible. The goods must be in stock and they must be ready to be dispatched as soon as possible, says Carsten Schmidt, director, and co-owner of SkatePro.
The impressive growth is something that we are proud of in the company that have based its business on a consumer-oriented DNA. According to Carsten Schmidt, it is basically about daring to listen to the consumers and adjust the business continuously:
- Of course, we are proud of the journey we are on, but after all, we are most proud of our customers. It is about listening to consumers and seeing new trends in the market. We live and breathe, for what we do. That is why we continuously adapt our business to the consumer so that we can continue to inspire them.
At SkatePro, the company try to be both smart and intelligent in every business context. That is why the company has invested in a warehouse solution with mobile PDAs (model: Bluebird EF401) where warehouse workers can place the scanners in an arm holder, so they don't have to let go off it along the way - and thus work faster. As an extra option, they can also use scanners in their hands via a gun grip.
- When operating in 26 countries, it requires efficient logistics flow and strong inventory management. In collaboration with Delfi Technologies, we have therefore introduced an online warehouse solution with mobile scanners that ensures that we can register goods as fast as possible. In this way, we can work smarter, Carsten Schmidt explains.
SkatePro uses the warehouse solution from Delfi Technologies for receipt of new goods, picking goods and ongoing inventory count. An app is installed on the scanners, which show a website that SkatePro has developed themselves - a kind of intranet with the company's most important WMS features. In collaboration with Delfi Technologies, the software solution has been adapted to work as an app on the mobile devices in the warehouse, based on the exact needs of SkatePro.
- It is all about maximum efficiency, so we can deliver packages on time. Our online scanner solution is integrated directly with our own system, where we can scale up relatively simply if a new country comes up. It is a flexible system and we adjust the solution as needed, explains Bjørn Sørensen, IT Administrator at SkatePro.
When it comes to the future, SkatePro has big growth ambitions and plans for further expansion. The online business needs to be expanded and more countries need to be added.
SkatePro is an online market leader in action sports. The company was established in 1996 and has grown to be Europe's largest skate shop today. SkatePro sells roller skates, scooters, skateboards as well as BMX, surf and winter sports equipment in 26 countries. In addition to being an online skate shop, SkatePro also has skate shops both in Søften (near Aarhus) and at Østerbro (Copenhagen).
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