Future-Proofing Growth: Scaling Sneakersnstuff’s Global Expansion with a Unified Digital Experience
Sneakersnstuff (SNS), a global leader in streetwear and sneaker culture, partnered with NOOS Digital to future-proof its digital infrastructure. The goal was to create a seamless omnichannel experience across SNS’s web, app, and physical stores to support their global expansion. The project took 1.5 years from discovery to launch, with a focus on building a scalable, efficient, and personalized digital platform that could meet the demands of a rapidly growing, high-volume global retailer.
As SNS grew, its existing systems struggled to keep up with increasing complexity. The infrastructure was fragmented, which caused inefficiencies, data silos, and operational bottlenecks. SNS needed a new platform that could handle significant traffic spikes during limited-edition releases, support a global customer base with region-specific requirements, and provide a personalized customer experience at every touchpoint.
Key goals included:
- Unified Digital Experience: Align web and app platforms to a common system capable of handling high-traffic events like “hype” releases.
- Scalability: Prepare the platform to handle a fivefold increase in revenue without compromising performance.
- Global Reach: Address diverse market needs, including regional promotions, localized content, and cross-border logistics.
- Personalization: Implement advanced recommendation engines and search capabilities to create personalized customer journeys.
The Holistic Approach
On behalf of SNS, NOOS Digital assumed the role as overall project manager for all workstreams of the project. We approached the project in multiple phases to ensure a comprehensive transformation. After a detailed discovery process, the decision was made to implement a headless e-commerce architecture powered by BigCommerce. This allowed for greater flexibility and scalability while integrating seamlessly with SNS’s existing systems and third-party services.
- Market-Specific Product Management: Market restrictions, cross-border logistics, and geo-fenced product releases were built into the platform to manage regional preferences and ensure compliance.
- Discovery & Data Mapping: NOOS mapped product, customer, and inventory data flows to identify gaps and inefficiencies.
- System Architecture Redesign: A headless infrastructure was developed to ensure flexibility and scalability across the app, website, and transactional systems.
- Personalization & Customer-Centric Focus: Advanced APIs were implemented to deliver personalized product recommendations and content.
- Third-Party Integrations: ERP (Microsoft Business Central), PIM (Perfion), CRM (Iterable), and CMS (Contentful) systems were integrated, along with third-party vendors like Adyen and Klarna, ensuring a seamless global operation.
Technology Stack
The platform leveraged a robust technology stack to ensure global operations could be managed smoothly:
- Payments & Shipping: Integration with Adyen for global transactions and Klarna for localized payment solutions. Third-party logistics (e.g., NShift) ensured efficient shipping and delivery.
- ERP: Microsoft Business Central and Navision for inventory management across multiple global warehouses.
- PIM: Perfion
- CMS: Contentful for managing product data and content across regions, enabling localized product launches and promotions.
- CRM: Bloomreach Engagement and Discovery for customer engagement and automated marketing campaigns.
Change Management: From Silos to Collaboration
A key component of the project was transforming SNS’s organizational structure. Previously, departments such as marketing, logistics, and product management worked more isolated with disconnected systems. NOOS’s unified platform helped SNS break down silos and foster cross-departmental collaboration.
- Focus Shift Toward Business Objectives: Automating operational tasks enabled teams to focus on strategic goals such as increasing customer engagement, expanding globally, and improving personalization.
- Breaking Down Silos through Unified Technology: Integrating ERP, CRM, PIM, CMS, and e-commerce into a holistic workstream created a unified data flow, eliminating inefficiencies and improving understanding and decision-making.
- Cultural Shift Toward Collaboration: With shared access to data, teams worked collaboratively on promotions, product launches, and inventory management.
Managing market restrictions and cross-border shipping was one of the most complex challenges SNS faced. SNS had to ensure that products were available only in authorized regions, complied with regional regulations, and met customer expectations for localized experiences.
- Market Restrictions Management: Products were mapped in PIM to control visibility in different markets. Products could be restricted to specific regions based on legal or contractual agreements.
- Cross-Border Logistics: The ERP integrated with logistics providers to ensure seamless cross-border shipments, managing inventory across multiple warehouses and calculating duties and taxes for customers.
- Geo-Fenced Product Releases: For exclusive, region-specific product drops, SNS used geo-fencing to control product visibility, ensuring customers outside of specific regions couldn’t access limited-edition releases.
The Result: A Significant Digital Transformation
The impact of the digital transformation has been profound for SNS:
- Global Reach: SNS is better positioned to meet the needs of its diverse, global customer base, with products tailored to regional markets and cross-border shipping managed efficiently.
- Scalable Infrastructure: The system now supports 5x growth in revenue, handling the demands of global operations and high-traffic events without issues.
- Unified Omnichannel Experience: The new platform provides a seamless, consistent experience across web and app, offering personalized product recommendations, regional promotions, and tailored content.
- Increased Efficiency: Automated processes, from inventory management to product launches, have significantly reduced the manual workload, allowing teams to focus on growth strategies.
- Enhanced Personalization: Personalized search and recommendation features to cater for increased customer engagement and improved conversion rates.
The SNS transformation project, led by us at NOOS Digital, represents one of the most ambitious digital migrations. By implementing a headless, scalable platform with deep integration across ERP, PIM, CRM, and CMS systems, NOOS Digital enabled SNS to break down silos, streamline operations, and meet the challenges of a rapidly expanding global market. With its new digital infrastructure, SNS is poised to continue its leadership in the streetwear space, offering a world-class shopping experience across all platforms.
For C-level executives considering a platform migration, SNS’s success story highlights the critical importance of scalability, cross-functional collaboration, and a customer-centric focus. NOOS Digital’s expertise in guiding large-scale platform transformations can help retailers unlock new growth opportunities and thrive in today’s competitive global market.
