Cambridge, Mass. — May 28, 2008 — City Sports, a successful specialty sports retailer, announced today that it has launched its new online channel at www.CitySports.com. Designed by Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), the web site revitalizes City Sports’ online brand with a destination that complements the look and feel of its 14 retail stores, located in six states. The newly launched site includes self-managed e-commerce capabilities that allow City Sports to control the online experience and inventory in-house, deliver a consistent brand experience across channels and provide a powerful cross-channel marketing platform. Additionally, the site has been nominated for several design awards and recently won the Gold Hermes Award.
“A key part of our success has been maintaining a consistent chain-wide brand experience through a product assortment featuring premium and specialty brands—with a special focus on running, triathlon, fitness and racquet sports—along with knowledgeable staff and personable customer service. By not having control of our web site, we weren’t able to ensure that customers felt they were shopping with the same company online compared to their in-store experience. This disconnect ultimately prevented us from fully leveraging the potential of this medium,” said Sean Scales, chief operating officer of City Sports. “The Sapient Interactive team partnered with us to deliver an online site with a look and feel that complements our stores and managed the implementation of an e-commerce capability that has put our team in the driver’s seat and allowed us to bring together our online and in-store efforts.”
City Sports has developed the premier retail concept for the athletic metropolitan adult. The brand began in 1983 in Boston and has grown into an award-winning specialty retailer with 14 locations in seven major East Coast cities. From 2001 through 2007, the company’s online operation was completely outsourced to an e-commerce and fulfillment company. This arrangement enabled City Sports to maintain an online presence without investing in the technology and infrastructure required to operate a web site. As online retail grew over the course of six years, the disconnect between the site and City Sports’ store locations widened, resulting in an online experience that did not match the physical stores or product assortment—and ultimately created a disjointed brand.
Launched just eight months after the initial meeting between City Sports and Sapient, the new City Sports online channel features an edgier look and feel that complements the City Sports store experience. Additionally, new information architecture and intuitive navigation features help customers find products faster and easier. Sapient managed the implementation of the online storefront, facilitated the development of City Sports’ product catalog and implemented a cost-effective image production process leveraging the company’s globally distributed creative, marketing and merchandising team. Today, City Sports can manage its entire web site catalogue, all e-commerce transactions and promotions and fulfillment issues internally.
“With a world-class brand and an outstanding reputation established with their physical stores, City Sports is well-positioned for future expansion in new channels,” said Steven Moy, a vice president in Sapient’s Interactive business. “Working together, we have created a powerful new online channel through Sapient’s proven understanding of e-commerce and unique ability to translate brands to the online world. With this initiative in place, City Sports will not only drive market expansion but will also realize dramatic margin improvements by transitioning from an outsourced provider to a self-managed infrastructure.”
About City Sports
City Sports is an award-winning, specialty sports retailer. The company was founded in 1983 by Mike Kennedy and Eric Martin, opening the first store on Massachusetts Avenue in Boston. The company now operates 14 retail stores in metropolitan locations in Boston, Providence, New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore and Atlanta as well as online at www.citysports.com. City Sports caters to the athletic adult who lives, works or studies in the city. Its product assortment stresses performance selection in footwear, apparel and equipment, geared towards running, triathlon, fitness, racquet sports, swim and outdoor.
About Sapient
Sapient, a global services firm, operates two groups—Sapient Interactive and Sapient Consulting—that help clients compete, evolve and grow in an increasingly complex marketplace. Sapient Interactive provides brand and marketing strategy, award-winning creative work, web design and development and emerging media expertise. Sapient Consulting provides business and IT strategy, process and systems design, package implementation and custom development, as well as outsourcing services such as testing, maintenance and support.
Sapient’s passion for client success—evidenced by its ability to foster collaboration, drive innovation and solve challenging problems—is the subject of case studies on leadership and organizational behavior used by MBA students at both Harvard and Yale. Leading clients, including BP, Essent Energie, Hilton International, Janus, Sony Electronics and Verizon, rely on the company’s unique approach to drive growth and market momentum. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sapient operates across North America, Europe and India. For more information, please visit www.sapient.com.
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Sapient is a registered service mark of Sapient Corporation.