Rollerblade Analytics Solution with SPS Empowers Sales and Inventory Alignment for Factory Production

Rollerblade® is a maker of popular inline skates and ice skates. Rollerblade skates are sold worldwide, and its U.S. partners include many leading sporting goods retailers. Rollerblade is owned by Tecnica Group USA Corp., a division of Tecnica S.P.A. of Italy. A global leader in the winter sports and outdoor sporting goods markets, Tecnica Group delivers best-in-class products to athletes and enthusiasts worldwide. In addition to Rollerblade, the company’s brands include Tecnica, Nordica, Blizzard, Lowa, Dolomite, Moon Boot and Bladerunner.

Rollerblade Analytics: Sell-Through is #1 Company Metric

Since starting with the SPS point-of-sale (POS) Analytics solution several years ago, Rollerblade finds it an essential tool to drive sell-through and to get the pulse of its end consumer customer. “In our company, sell-through is everything. It’s the number one metric we use to measure success,” said Stephen Charrier, co-president of Rollerblade.

Rollerblade gradually introduced the POS analyses when meeting with buyers at its top retailers. Now the supplier is a go-to resource at its leading retailer partners for its ability to accurately identify sales trends and deliver optimal product mixes down to the store level. “As a result, we’ve become more reliable to our buyers allowing us to build trust with them,” Charrier said.

Aligning Sales, Inventory and Production

Rollerblade uses POS analytics as a key decision-making tool across all major functions. “We use the information to manage inventory, plan production, work with dealers and keep the whole business moving,” Charrier said. Rollerblade Analytics solution with SPS Commerce empowers sales to more closely align with inventory levels and factory production. Charrier looks at current sales data for Rollerblade’s top 15 to 20 accounts to forecast production, sometimes comparing it against past-year data. “We use a 12-month rolling stock program. We receive goods every month and we ship goods every month of the year,” he said.

Similarly, Rollerblade leverages POS data to make business decisions with aggregate sales trend information based on a Top 25 Stores report it generates for each large retailer customer. These reports allow the supplier to identify top-selling product lines and SKUs as well as stock that isn’t selling at each customer. As a result, Rollerblade is armed with information to support decisions about promotions or to adjust its production levels, for example.

“SPS POS Analytics is a lifeblood for us. We couldn’t carry on the way and manage our company as tight as we do. Without it, we would be flying blind,” Charrier concludes.