Large sports specialty retailer modernizes business with 40% cost savings

In 2023, customers no longer want rigid shopping options. Some users prefer the traditional brick-and-mortar experience for certain products, while others prefer the convenience of online shopping. But what everyone prefers is the availability of choices – over rigidity. Naturally, a retailer who lacks a combination of these will risk losing customers.

Our client, a leading U.S.-based sports retailer lacked a modern and scalable middleware platform to offer a seamless shopping experience. Some customers want to try a shoe in-store but choose the color or payment option from the comfort of their homes. While few shoppers love to traditionally browse via a system, the younger generation leans more towards in-app purchases.

Several asks – and they needed one solution that will help deliver everything that a customer wants. They wanted to create new omnichannel experience across online, mobile, and in-store for their customers.​​ The business required a platform with real-time integration capabilities to overhaul their existing internal platforms and applications.

The existing legacy system wasn’t built resilient enough to improve and meet the changing needs of the retailer and its productivity was quite low.

New beginnings with a shift to cloud

Ascendion worked with the client to evaluate multiple solutions, simulations, and appropriate data exchanges to chart a modernization roadmap.​​

From recommending cloud transition to modernizing their platform, the final solution replaced their legacy-system based Biztalk.​​

Ascendion built a new and improved platform with Azure Logic Apps, to create a modern cloud-based integration platform. With Azure integration services, our solution enabled dynamic upscaling of infrastructure, enabling our client to handle holiday traffic and real-time transactions.​​

The results:

• 40% cost savings due to cloud transition
• 50% reduction in support/operations tickets
• 70% improvement in data batch processing levels
• 13% increase in platform availability
• Availability created to support peak 0.5 MM/hour transactions