RoadRunner Sports is Keeping fit With Site-Search Optimizations
SAN DIEGO, California, March 22, 2010--
- RoadRunner Sports Leads the way in an Ongoing Marathon of Etail
Success, Obtaining Significant Economic Value From its Site-Search and Online
Merchandising, Along With a 30% Increase in Search Engine Originated Traffic
RoadRunner Sports, the leading national retailer of running gear,
experiences positive economic performance from its continuous investments in
Site-Search optimization by hitting end-user trends as they emerge and
improving SEO using site-search data.
In order to stay on top of customer demands and varying sneaker
trends, RoadRunner Sports relies on Site-Search analytics to reveal demand
dynamics as they emerge. Spotting trends earlier than competition and
answering end-user interest with smart merchandizing campaigns makes the
whole difference.
"RoadRunner Sports experienced a significant increase in
conversion rate within a short amount of time when using fallback reports to
identify popular items not carried in store and suggesting alternative
similar products it did supply instead, so as to prevent customers from
leaving empty handed," said Dan Kelly, RoadRunner Sports' VP of Information
Technology.
"We depend heavily on our Site-Search analytics to guide us in
the right retail direction, which inevitably reflect the voice of our
customers. For example, once toning shoes entered the market, we were quick
to identify "MBT toning shoes" as a frequent fallback. Through site search
optimization, we were able to have Easy Tones and Skechers Shape Ups
programmed to appear when a customer queried "MBT toning shoes" instead. Over
1,200 pairs of toning shoes were sold within 2 weeks! I am very pleased with
the way our Celebros Site Search continues to contribute to our success,"
exclaimed Mr. Kelly.
Another significant benefit for RoadRunner Sports has been
connecting its site-search with its site navigation menus, enabling
site-search to manage the category pages rather than having them pre-created
manually. Site management efforts have been notably simplified and costs have
been drastically reduced. This has further allowed for a better response time
to update the site with changes in the product catalog and has given the
end-user a coherent experience, whether searching through the search-box or
navigating the site menus.
The category pages were made search-engine friendly through the
use of the URL-masking technique to make sure the category pages are
accessible to search engine crawlers and achieve a good ranking in the
results of Google, Yahoo and other leading search engines.
In order to further improve its search-engine ranking, RoadRunner
Sports deployed Popular Search Pages, listing the search results for the top
queries ( http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/popularSearches/PopularSearches.html).
RoadRunner Sports saw an increase of 30% in search engine originated traffic!
The Popular Search Pages are managed automatically by the Celebros Traffic
Builder and are updated periodically as the store's catalog changes. "We
experience an increase of search engine originated traffic each time our
catalog is updated," added Mr. Kelly.
Road Runner Sports, founded in San Diego, California, in 1983,
provides fitness and sports enthusiasts the world's largest selection of
men's and women's running shoes, jogging shoes, running apparel and
accessories to everyone from beginning runners to seasoned marathoners,
cross-country runners and triathletes. Customers shop in a fun, friendly
environment for running and walking gear from the biggest names in running
such as Asics, New Balance, Nike, Saucony, adidas, Brooks and more. Road
Runner Sports has retail stores in Scottsdale and Tempe, Arizona; Concord,
Costa Mesa, Laguna Hills, San Carlos, San Diego, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, and
West Hills, California; Westminster, Colorado; Naperville, Illinois;
Columbia, Maryland; North Brunswick, Paramus, and Shrewsbury, New Jersey;
Columbus, Ohio; Tualatin, Oregon; Falls Church, Virginia; and Kent and
Seattle, Washington.