Reebok, the footwear and apparel company, has launched two new e-commerce websites to support the growth of its multichannel retail business in the Middle East, implemented by Astound Commerce, the leading digital commerce agency and systems integrator.

Launched by franchisee Al-Futtaim in 2017, Reebok ME is now present in ten locations in the United Arab Emirates and in five stores across Saudi Arabia. Reebok is a leading producer of sports, fitness and casual footwear, apparel and accessories, combining both athletic performance and style. To support its growth and deliver omnichannel capabilities to its customers in these countries, Al-Futtaim Group sought to launch two new e-commerce websites, www.reebok.ae/en/ and www.reebok.sa/en/

The new solution means Reebok customers can shop their favourite collections across mobile, tablet and desk top and enjoy a fully automated digital experience, with orders being processed from storefront to delivery without using store staff resource. The website’s capability extends beyond commerce to include marketing content including promotions, and customer service focused applications, such as cancellations, returns and refunds.

Astound Commerce designed and delivered the solution, configuring and integrating Salesforce Commerce Cloud and more than twenty integration points, including Order Management System, Product Information Management System and Enterprise Resource Planning amongst others. The Astound team also provided consultancy services advising on best practices in line with other leading global sports brands who already have best of breed e-commerce capabilities.

By taking an agile approach to development, which saw the core team from every partner working in one room together in close co-operation with the other vendors, the two sites, in two different regions, were built and launched in the shortest timeline Astound has ever achieved – just four weeks and four days from idea to go-live date.

Khalid Khan, Managing Director at Astound Commerce Middle East, said “Our team was challenged to build a full e-commerce solution in the shortest timeline ever. We accepted the challenge and in addition to the brief we also got support, assistance and great passion from our partner, Al-Futtaim Group.”

Central to meeting the short go-live date was the custom ‘Reference Application’, designed by Astound Commerce, which allows multiple brands and locations to leverage the central code base. This unique solution allows Al-Futtaim Group to launch new sites swiftly, typically new brands can be launched in 4- 6 weeks and new locales in 1-2 weeks. As sites are relying on the same core code base, support and new feature enhancement now runs more efficiently.

Khalid Khan continued: “For businesses with multiple brands, this approach offers clients a huge degree of agility in their go to market approach and significant deployment efficiencies over the mid to long term. New features and can be efficiently distributed to the sites on the reference application. Astound Commerce have delivered similar solutions for some of the best-known brands in the world such as boohoo.com and L’Oreal.”

In addition to the Reebok sites, Astound Commerce have completed two more e-commerce projects for Al-Futtaim Group in the past six months. The first site, toysrusmena.com, went live in October 2018. The latest collaboration, the UAE specific e-commerce site for French clothing house, Kiabi, went live in late March.

Astound Commerce Dubai opened in 2017 and works closely with Astound Commerce UK, its European HQ in London, to grow the company’s customer base in MENA.