Avec Sport Case Study | eCommerce & Growth

The Project

Building an eCommerce platform for growth

Avec Sport

Working with Avec Sport, I helped evolve its online presence into a bespoke eCommerce platform built around the needs of the sportswear business and its customers.

Built on nopCommerce and extended with custom functionality, the platform supported complex team kit ordering, personalised garments, shirt printing and bespoke customer experiences. I also integrated Umbraco using a headless architecture, giving the business greater flexibility over its content and digital experience.

Beyond the initial development, the platform continued to evolve through ongoing improvements, a company-wide rebrand and new bespoke capabilities. The result was a more professional, responsive online experience that helped Avec Sport differentiate itself from competitors and provided a stronger digital foundation for business growth.

nopCommerce
Umbraco CMS
Platform Engineering
Bespoke DPD API Integration
Bespoke Theme
Digital Experience Design
Bespoke Customer Journeys
Bespoke Payment Gateways
Custom Plugin Development

Discovery & Technical Strategy

Working closely with marketing to shape the solution

A significant part of the engagement involved working closely with Avec Sport’s marketing team to understand their objectives, explore opportunities and establish how the digital platform could better support the business.

Through ongoing discussions and collaborative discovery, I helped translate marketing requirements and commercial priorities into practical technical solutions. This included improving the customer journey, enhancing product presentation, simplifying complex teamwear purchasing and creating a more flexible content experience.

This collaborative, discovery-led approach ensured the platform was shaped around genuine business needs rather than simply replacing the existing website. It also established the foundations for continued development, including the company rebrand and the introduction of bespoke functionality.

Business Growth

Built to support growth. Engineered to scale.

The platform continued to evolve alongside Avec Sport, supporting changing commercial requirements through bespoke eCommerce functionality, an improved customer experience and ongoing technical development.

As the business expanded its online trading, the platform provided a more flexible foundation for handling increasing demand and delivering a better experience for customers.

+1,362%

Annual order growth

2015–16 to 2025–26

+1,063%

Annual revenue growth

2015–16 to 2025–26

Technology enabling commercial progress

The focus was not simply on launching a new website. It was on creating a platform that could adapt as the business grew, accommodate more complex requirements and continue to support new commercial opportunities.

The challenge

Avec Sport needed an eCommerce platform that could do more than sell standard products. Teamwear purchasing involves complex product customisation, squad and kit management, personalisation and the ability to serve multiple teams through dedicated retail experiences.

The platform needed to evolve alongside the business, providing a more professional customer experience while supporting increasingly complex commercial requirements.

The Solution

A bespoke eCommerce platform built around the business

I helped transform Avec Sport’s ageing, off-the-shelf eCommerce website into a modern, bespoke platform built on nopCommerce, tailored to the specific needs of sportswear retail.

Key capabilities included:

Bespoke team kit ordering

Enabling customers to manage team kits and squads, and purchase the items they needed.

Advanced product customisation

Supporting size grids, embroidery, logo uploads and personalised shirt names and numbers, with garment previews using the appropriate fonts.

A complete brand refresh

Delivering a new theme and website facelift to reflect the company’s rebrand and provide a more consistent customer experience.

Flexible content management

Integrating Umbraco with nopCommerce topics through a headless architecture, giving the marketing team greater control over website content.

View an example video of how this integration worked.

Custom DPD Ship to Shop Integration

I developed a bespoke nopCommerce plugin integrating DPD’s Ship to Shop API directly into the checkout experience.

The integration enabled customers to find and select a convenient local DPD pickup shop using an interactive map and postcode search. Customers could explore nearby locations, view distances and store information, and check opening hours before choosing where to receive their order.

By integrating directly with the DPD API rather than relying on a simple embedded map, the solution captured structured pickup-location information for the order, helping connect the customer’s delivery choice with the fulfilment process.

View the DPD Ship to Shop plugin on GitHub

The platform continued to evolve through ongoing technical consultancy, new functionality and improvements to the customer experience.

This provided Avec Sport with a stronger digital foundation, helping the business respond to changing commercial needs and supporting substantial growth in online orders and revenue.

“The difference between the old and the new site was like night and day, giving us a website which was clean, professional and one we were proud to promote and advertise.”

- Martin Bullock | Group Chief Executive

Explore more.

Planning a digital platform or modernising an existing eCommerce platform?

I provide technical consultancy, solution architecture and digital platform development to help organisations make informed decisions, overcome technical challenges and build for the future.

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