Amer Sports is expanding the distribution of its products through own e-commerce.


After successfully piloting ecommerce in France with Salomon and Suunto, the company will gradually open new web-shops in Europe and North-America. With e-commerce, Amer Sports will provide an additional channel for the consumer to interact with its brands. It also provides the consumer the opportunity to
purchase the entire range of products from a brand.

“E-commerce is a good addition to the other channels where our products are being sold, such as sporting goods chains, specialty retailers, mass merchants and brand stores. Own e-commerce offers us the opportunity to demonstrate our entire
product range with the chance to explain the unique benefits and features of each product. Further, in ecommerce we can tell our brand stories through ‘sight and sounds. This in turn creates stronger consumer awareness and desire for our
brands,” said Heikki Takala, President and CEO of Amer Sports Corporation.


“Ecommerce is a logical building block to our Group strategic priorities, enabling us to grow faster in softgoods, win with the consumer by following their habit changes in purchasing and information seeking, and expand our commercial footprint to new channels,” Takala continued.


Two pilot stores resulted in the doubling of web-site traffic for Amer Sports brands, driving incremental sales through its ecommerce sites while also supporting the sales of its retail partners, the company said.


Indeed, our retail partners benefit from the increased awareness, as most consumers want to feel and try the product
and hence prefer to purchase in retailers outlets, explained Victor Duran, in charge of Amer Sports Business to Consumer and Marketing.

“The strategy in Amer Sports Business to Consumer is to surround the consumer with a great brand experience, communicate the value of our brands and then let the consumer decide how and where to buy,” Duran said.


On top of the ecommerce expansion, Amer Sports continues to develop its direct retail sales to consumers. At the end of March, the Group had 159 branded stores worldwide. The Group’s current target is to have up to 10% of the Group net
sales coming from own retail stores and ecommerce.


In September 2010, Amer Sports Corporation announced new strategic priorities.




The Group strategy emphasizes faster growth in apparel and footwear, excellence in consumer-centric product creation and brand marketing, and stronger commercial fundamentals through sales and distribution development, including own retail and ecommerce. Operational excellence continues to be a key
cornerstone. The strategy also defines internal financial as well as synergy and scale targets for each unit in the Group portfolio.