Case study
Navigating the hurdles: Tackling True Motion's wholesale and DTC challenges
True Motion, the esteemed running shoe brand from Cologne/Münster, Germany, is renowned for its award-winning, scientifically designed footwear that aims to mitigate the prevalent discomforts faced by runners.
Studies suggest that roughly half of all runners grapple with running-related ailments, such as knee and Achilles tendon injuries, at least once annually. True Motion seeks to confront these issues head-on by employing their patented U-TECH™ technology in their exceptional footwear designs.
Navigating the hurdles: Tackling True Motion's wholesale challenges
The explosive growth of True Motion’s wholesale partner base was one of the factors that propmted the decision to streamline their wholesale operations. Their salespeople were burdened with manual data entry, a lack of stock level visibility, and time-consuming communication with customer service to obtain updated stock and product information. This cumbersome process hindered the company's core focus on customer acquisition and business growth. The need to combine DTC and B2B in a globally viable environment was a key decision driver to search for a new ecommerce solution.
True Motion's strategic replatforming to Centra
To overcome these challenges, True Motion collaborated with the implementation and front-end design agency Ventanas95. The transition from the Shopware platform to Centra was especially important for the brand’s DTC business. With Ventana95 and Storyblok as their headless CMS, True Motion can now create and publish new landing pages much faster to dynamically respond to the market needs of their customers.
With Centra, True Motion gained access to numerous benefits including local pay and shipping options, a visually appealing, feed-inspired storefront, improved ability to handle peak traffic, and enhanced control of stock availability to prevent overselling.
Centra also streamlined True Motion’s order management, providing a seamless and frictionless experience for retailers and salespeople. Sales teams could now easily access information on stock levels and products, allowing them to focus on their core activities – nurturing customer relationships and driving new business.
Embracing localization
True Motion's migration to Centra facilitated a smooth and localized experience for customers, who could effortlessly switch between offers tailored to the German-speaking DACH market and English-speaking markets. This seamless integration of currencies and languages proved crucial for True Motion's successful expansion.
Purpose-built platform
Centra's laser focus on catering to the needs of apparel and footwear brands eliminates the need for costly personalization. True Motion was also delighted with Centra's out-of-the-box showroom features, as well as the platform's intuitive handling of fashion product variants, such as sizes and color options.
Expanding partnerships
Following the transition to Centra, True Motion secured distribution through prominent retail partners, showcasing the power of a well-executed ecommerce strategy.
A tech stack for lasting success
True Motion's revamped headless tech stack now includes Centra for ecommerce and wholesale management, and seamless integrations with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google Merchant, Klarna, PayPal, Sofort, Klaviyo, Next.js, Headless UI, Vercel, and AWS.
| Ecommerce platform | Centra |
|---|---|
| Wholesale management | Centra |
| Marketplaces | Facebook, Instagram, Google Merchant |
| PSP | Klarna, PayPal, Sofort |
| E-mail & marketing automation | Klaviyo |
| Storefront framework | Next.js |
| Frontend framework | Next.js, Headless UI |
| Frontend hosting | Vercel, AWS |
| Hosting | Vercel, AWS |
| Marketing & email automation | Klaviyo |
By replatforming to Centra, True Motion has transformed its international ecommerce operations, surmounting challenges in wholesale management, and scaling up for success in new markets. With improved agility and efficiency, True Motion is now poised to soar even higher, delivering premium running shoes to customers worldwide.
