// CASE STUDY //
Rather than treating the app as a transactional tool, SportsShoes. com has focused on creating value for its Ultra members through exclusive content, competitions and experiences, alongside deeper integrations with partners such as England Athletics, parkrun and Vitality. Eligible customers can automatically access discounts and benefits within the app, reinforcing loyalty while opening up new audiences.
For SportsShoes. com, working with One iota offered a way to move quickly without sacrificing flexibility or control.
Joe Till, CEO at One iota, said:“ This is a great example of a retailer being clear about outcomes rather than chasing an app for its own sake. SportsShoes. com invested in the right foundations, which meant the app could integrate seamlessly into their ecosystem and deliver real commercial impact, not just engagement metrics.”
The app has also given the business a direct communication channel through push notifications, allowing SportsShoes. com to speak to customers without over-reliance on third-party platforms. Messaging is used selectively, with a focus on relevance rather than volume.
Looking ahead, the team plans to build on this foundation with more personalised experiences and enhanced product discovery, using richer customer insight to keep the app aligned with how runners actually shop and train.
Cleaver took the time to speak to Intelligent SME. tech about the changes.
Why was it important for SportsShoes. com to shift away from legacy systems to a composable digital architecture?
We’ d reached a point where the legacy platform was starting to limit what we could realistically do as a business. We knew we wanted to launch a native app quite early on, but the technology underneath simply wasn’ t built to support it properly. Rather than trying to bolt something new onto ageing infrastructure, we took a step back and rebuilt the foundations first. Moving to a composable architecture gave us much more flexibility, not just for the app, but for future channels and experiences too. It meant we could choose best-in-class platforms for areas like commerce, search and payments, while building APIs and infrastructure that would scale with the business over time. That also gave us the right foundations to work with One iota and build the app in a much more scalable and efficient way.
How difficult was it to rebuild the core architecture?
It was definitely a major project and something we approached very carefully over several years. We started the
// transformation around four years ago and took it in stages rather than trying to replace everything at once. First, we transitioned our international sites, then rebuilt the UK website, and after that launched the app with One iota around three months later. The biggest challenge was really making sure we were building infrastructure and APIs that could support multiple channels properly long term, not just the website. There’ s more work and planning involved upfront, but it puts you in a much stronger position for future growth and innovation.
In what way do app users outperform web-only customers?
The app customer is by far our strongest customer commercially. We’ ve seen higher conversion rates, stronger average order values, more repeat purchases and better lifetime value compared to web-only customers. In some periods the app has driven up to 20 % of the business, which exceeded our expectations massively considering we launched from a standing start. Part of that is convenience because the app is always there in someone’ s pocket, but a big part is also that our most loyal customers naturally gravitate towards it because of the additional value and experiences we offer there through the One iota-powered app experience.
WE WERE REALLY CLEAR FROM THE BEGINNING THAT WE DIDN’ T WANT THE APP TO JUST BE ANOTHER PLACE TO BUY PRODUCTS BECAUSE CUSTOMERS CAN ALREADY DO THAT ON THE WEBSITE.
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