This document provides an overview of launching an online sports nutrition web-store in Europe. It discusses the growing online retail market in Europe and the broadening sports nutrition consumer base. The keys to success include having engaging website content across devices, competitive pricing on a wide range of products, strong brands and targeted marketing. Excellent customer service and fast shipping are also essential, as is retaining customers through loyalty programs and targeted communications. Allowing wholesale customers to purchase directly online can further support existing retail partnerships.

1. ON-LINE RETAILING
SPORTS & PERFORMANCE
NUTRITION

2. TABLEOF
CONTENTS
Who Am I 3
Category, Channel & Customer Overview 4 - 9
Leading EU Sports Nutrition Web-stores 10 - 11
Reasons/Benefits for Launching a Web-store 12 - 13
Obstacles to a Successful Web-store 14
Keys to Success 15 - 23
Any Questions? 24

3. Sports Nutrition Development Manager
Executive Director of Marketing, Sports Nutrition & Diet Brands
Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Sports Nutrition Brands
Founder & CEO
• Largest Finnish based sports nutrition web-store
• Own-label Mass Nutrition voted Best Brand in 2013
• Company sold to “The Hut Group” January 2014
Director
WHO AM I ?
I have worked in the sports nutrition industry for 20 years in Senior Management positions for:

4. CATEGORY,CHANNEL
&CUSTOMER
OVERVIEW

5. CATEGORY
OVERVIEW

6. CHANNEL
OVERVIEW
Europe’s online retail sales €128 billion in 2013.
Expected to reach €191 billion in 2017 (10.5 % CAGR).

7. CHANNEL
OVERVIEW
64 % of internet users in Western Europe purchased products online in 2013.
Expected to reach 68.2 % in 2017.

8. CUSTOMER
OVERVIEW
Sports nutrition consumer base is becoming broader and more segmented

9. SPORTS NUTRITION WEB-STORE
CUSTOMER OVERVIEW
 Predominantly Male 18 - 45
 Core user who “knows what they want”
 Making regular high value bulk-sized purchases (Order value averaging 75 - 85 €)
 Purchases largely based on price/quality ratio
 As the overall sports nutrition consumer base broadens, so will the web-store consumer
base, providing additional growth opportunities
Source: Customer demographics in major Finnish Sports Nutrition Web-store.

10. LEADINGEU
WEB-STORES

11. LEADING EU SPORTS
NUTRITION WEB-STORES
3 of the leading European sports nutrition web-stores:
What they have in common:
 Leading players (brands) in sports
nutrition in their respective countries
 High % (up to 100%) of sales from
own-label products
 Above industry-standard growth
in the past 2 - 5 years
 Pan-European operations
Web-store growth driven by:
 Entry into international markets.
 Focus on online marketing
 Treating each market individually
 New product development
 Wide product selection (1,000 - 10,000+
SKUs)
These companies have changed the traditional web-store model
from re-sellers to brand owners & category drivers!

12. REASONS/BENEFITSFOR
LAUNCHINGA
WEB-STORE

13. WHY SHOULD A SPORTS
NUTRITION BRAND LAUNCH
THEIR OWN WEB-STORE?
 Increase sales and profitability
of the group with higher
margins when selling B2C
 Leverage the strength of their
brands
 Assist in globalising their brands
 Provide the consumer with
increased availability and
awareness of their brands
 Increase brand loyalty and
recognition
 Open the doors to new markets
(Scandinavia, Europe, Russia)
 Complement current sales channels
 Control of product/customer
lifecycle from manufacture to
purchase
 New/additional revenue stream
with very little cannibalising of
current business
 Targeted low cost marketing (PPC,
Affiliates, Social Media, e-mails etc.)
 Growth channel
 Good for cash-flow
“If I Could Turn Back Time” - Cher:

14. OBSTACLES TO A SUCCESSFUL
SPORTS NUTRITION BRAND
PAN-EUROPEAN WEB-STORE?
 Negative response from current
retail/wholesale customers
 Customer trust
 Payment methods
 Language & localisation issues
 Shipping issues
 Regulatory issues
 Tax issues (VAT, “Candy Tax”)
 Pricing issues
It’s not a “Fair Playing Field” in the EU!

15. KEYS TO
SUCCESS

16. KEYS TO
SUCCESS
 A site that has engaging content
and is easy to navigate
 Relevant to customer base,
“More than just a store!”
 Responsive to all devices
 Right products and pricing
 Strong brands
 Targeted marketing
 Excellent customer service
 Customer retention
 Fast, reliable, cost-efficient
shipping
 Multiple/flexible payment options
 Support your bricks & mortar
retailers

17.  Information section (athletes, diets,
training programs)
 Latest social media section
 Blog and customer testimonials section
 Live chat and product advisor
 Next shipment countdown clock
 Easy-to-use navigation with filters
 Brand quality and customer support
call-outs
 Offer and information banners
 Rotating featured products section
 New, Hot and Sale products section
 Multi-functional information footer
MORE THAN
JUST A STORE

18. PRODUCTS
& PRICING
FULLY RESPONSIVE
TO ALL DEVICES

19. PRODUCTS
& PRICING
 Web-specific products that do not compete with your wholesale/retail customers
 Large range of products, sizes and flavours (1000+ SKUs)
 Larger bulk sizes selling best
 Aggressive pricing, especially on commodities such as Whey Protein
 Core consumer feels like a “kid in a candy store”, new consumers may feel overwhelmed
Source: Product Sales Mix in major Finnish Sports Nutrition Web-store.

20. ON-LINE
MARKETING
Whereas brands traditionally focus on offline marketing
(magazines, poster sites, radio etc.) web-stores should focus on
targeted online marketing:
 PPC sales (Google AdWords, Google Banner Ads etc.)
 Affiliate network (incentivise/benefit the brand’s sponsored athletes)
 Social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
 E-mail promotions
 Blogs and forums
These forms of online marketing allow a brand to really connect
with their customers and make it possible to cost-effectively
tailor targeted campaigns to specific customer groups.

21. Example FAST Product Advisor
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
Excellent customer service along with fast
and accurate shipping are essential to a
successful web-store.
Five main customer contact points are:
 Phone
 E-mail
 Live Chat + Product Advisor
 Facebook
 Twitter
FAST PRODUCT ADVISOR

22. CUSTOMER
RETENTION
Based on previous experience, return customers spend on average
3.6 times more per year than single-purchase customers. Ensuring
customer retention will provide an immediate increase in revenue and
can also lower % marketing costs as the cost to retain a current
customer is lower than the cost to gain a new customer.
Tactics geared towards retaining current customers:
 Targeted e-mail promotions
 Loyalty points scheme
 Members only offers/exclusive flavours etc.
 Remarketing e-mails (dropped cart etc.)
 Order history/quick order feature
 Wish-list feature
 Sponsored athlete Q&As, Live Chats, Webinars

23. WHOLESALE/RETAILER
PORTAL
Allow wholesale/retail customers to:
 Login and view full product selection and account-specific pricing
 Buy 24/7 from live stock quantities
 Receive automated invoices with payment details/terms
 Chat live with customer service team
Provide specific offers/discounts that also drive customers to
your retail partners.

24. THANK YOU
FOR LISTENING
ANY QUESTIONS?
Presented by:
Robert Walker
Func Food Group
robert.walker@funcfood.com
+358 45 137 4329