Choosing the right ski length is often a conversion blocker

Stefan, as Head of E-Commerce, you've overseen Atomic's online offering for three and a half years. What fundamental challenges do you face when selling skis online?

Stefan Lettner: The biggest challenge is that many customers are unsure. They have a brand and maybe even a model in mind, but they're not 100 percent sure what length to order. This often leads to customers abandoning the purchase process and instead seeking advice from a brick-and-mortar retailer. Atomic is an omni-channel brand that sells both in-store and online. Therefore, brick-and-mortar sales are naturally just as valuable to us. However, in pure e-commerce, choosing the right ski length is often a conversion blocker.

How does Smartfit help solve this problem?

Stefan Lettner: Smartfit offers a individual ski length recommendation that goes far beyond simple size charts. The tool takes into account various factors such as height, weight, and skiing style to provide a precise recommendation. We've been using the tool since winter 2024/25 and can already see – after just a few months – that the usage rate is very high and we've even increased the conversion rate for some products by over 50 percent.

Of course, it's important to consider that customers who use an online sizing tool are very likely already more likely to purchase – but the effect is still significant. Also interesting: Chat requests for size advice decreased by 50 percent in Europe between December 2024 and 2023. What's even more exciting is that many customers also use the tool as an information source for brick-and-mortar retailers.

So the sizing tool doesn't just help you with e-commerce?

Stefan Lettner: Exactly. Ultimately, our goal is for as many people to use Atomic. If our website is designed to be so informative and helpful that customers arrive at a sports retailer better informed and then decide to purchase an Atomic product based on this advance information, that's also a very positive thing for us.

The Smartfit online sizing tool not only helps customers find the right ski size, but also provides you, as a manufacturer, with data on usage behavior. How does this help you?

Stefan Lettner: The data we gain from Smartfit is extremely valuable to us. It not only gives us insights into user behavior but also helps us better understand trends and purchasing patterns. However, since we've only been using the tool for a few months, it's still too early to draw any concrete conclusions. In the long term, we definitely want to delve deeper into the data to find out which models and lengths are most frequently chosen and whether there are any patterns that could help us tailor our product range even better to customer needs.

How important is precise online ski advice for the future of ski retail – especially with regard to e-commerce trends?

Stefan Lettner: It's an absolute must. A simple product catalog is no longer enough today. Customers need to be guided – with digital showrooms, visualizations, or appropriate tools. For many, the question "Which ski is right for me?" is the most important one when buying. Choosing the right ski length is often the last, but crucial, criterion. Smartfit is an exciting tool that provides this answer in a very simple and efficient way.

Stefan, thank you for the interview.