Sweden’s largest store for martial arts and workout equipment Budo & Fitness Sport is growing in the global market. In September, Budo & Fitness Sport launches a new international web shop. The new online store is built on Magento’s Progressive Web Apps technology and contains a completely new Business-to-Business (B2B) solution for Budo & Fitness Sport international distributors. The company’s own brand, Budo-Nord, is right now represented in 35 countries. The goal by the end of 2020 is to be represented in more than 50 countries.
– From our perspective the customer, the individual martial artists and fitness practitioner has always been in the center. For 35 years we have been a natural part of the swedish gym’s and the martial arts world. At the same time we have seen that the demand for our products have increased from our international resellers. With the new web shop, we will be able to do the same thing regardless of where the customer or distributor are located, says Pierre Dahl who is the founder of Budo & Fitness.
Budo-Nord is already internationally well known
The company’s own brand Budo-Nord is well known in the international martial arts world and is the official partner of the World Karate Federation (WKF) which is organizing Karate at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Budo-Nord is very proud of the sponsorship collaboration with the Ukrainian Stanislav Horuna, who is ranked as number five in the world in Karate. Budo-Nord collaborates with a variety of clubs, national teams and distributors all over the world.
Unique Business-to-business solution
The new online store will provide a huge support for the international distributors to showcase and broaden their product range to their local customers. The online store contains a B2B function that will facilitate larger customers’ orders and improve both order management and logistics.
– No matter where or what you train, your training almost always takes place locally and in many cases your club or gym works with a reseller locally in the same country, which in turn almost always works with a global distributor. Our goal is to make that product chain and customer experience easier for everyone, right down to the end user who just wants to concentrate on their training, says Pierre Dahl.
The combination of e-commerce, physical presence and personal relationship
For Budo & Fitness Sport the key to success has been the relationship building with practitioners, clubs and retailers. Regardless of whether the practitioner is a beginner, professional or in between, there is a need for good products that suit level and ambition. Budo & Fitness has developed its product range for 35 years, in close relationship with its customers. This means that the company possesses an expert knowledge that it is important for customers to take part in the choice of product.
and has many years of experience in Martial Arts.
– The exchange of knowledge can be difficult in a pure e-commerce, therefore we believe in a combination of e-commerce, personal service and physical presence. When I visit competitions, I constantly have a dialogue with the practitioners and coaches. It’s an incredibly cool feeling to have a close relationship with the sports and listen to the feedback we get. Basically, it’s about listening and helping customers solve their problems, regardless of whether if it’s athletes or distributors I talk to, says Robert Tegel who is international sales manager at Budo & Fitness Sport.
“How do you know if a boxing glove feels good without trying it on?“
It is difficult if not impossible to choose the right product from the beginning if you do not get the opportunity to try it out. This is one of the reasons why Budo & Fitness values its own concept stores, where customers are given the opportunity to try out products and to ask experienced staff. The stores also function as showrooms and drop-off points in the link between e-commerce and physical meetings. Budo & Fitness uses the same model in the international development where the company’s distributors act in a similar way. The new Business-to-business solution that the company developed in the new webshop is the hub for an optimal customer journey.
– The new customer experience is both physical and digital, no matter where you are. For us, it is important that you as a customer get the right help to choose the right product from the beginning. In addition to satisfied customers, it also saves return transports, says Pierre Dahl.
Magento – the next generation of e-commerce development
The new online store is built with Magentos 2.3 Progressive Web Apps (PWA). Progressive Web Apps rewards the mobile visitor and brings a seamless user experience between app and website. At the same time it is incredibly responsive based on the user’s connection speed. Progressive Web Apps solves several of the most common problems in the user experience, such as the user not having to download a traditional app or the browser having to support the latest features. Companies like Starbucks and Uber today use PWA technology.
– It’s very exciting to be part of leading Budo & Fitness into the next generation of e-commerce development, the new online store is the hub of our international venture. Progressive Web Apps technology has enabled us to take the next step in creating an optimal service for our customers and distributors, says Pierre Dahl, founder of Budo & Fitness Sport.
Budo & Fitness is currently preparing for the launch of Magento 2.4, which will focus on omni channels. When the new updates are in play the service will be able to develop further. Magneto 2.4 will be able to show the stores’ stock balances at product level in the web shop. The customer will be able to pay in the web shop and pick up the product in the store. Or vice versa, try out products in the physical store and pay in the online store and get it delivered home.
Budo & Fitness starts collaboration with Amazon
In conjunction with Amazon’s launch in Sweden, Budo & Fitness has initiated a collaboration the company which will result in that the world’s largest e-commerce company will market some of Budo & Fitness’ selected products. With the help of Amazon’s enormously wide network, Budo & Fitness expects to reach beyond its own channels. The deliveries of goods will continue to be handled from Budo & Fitness logistics center in Arlöv outside Malmö, where there is already room for real growth.
Read more:
Budo & Fitness Sports new online store
https://budofitness.se
Budo & Fitness stores at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/budofitness
https://www.amazon.co.uk/budonord
Budo & Fitness uses Scaniwebs PWA solution:
https://scandiweb.com