fbpx
Daisycon

Birk Sport: From Bankruptcy to Record Revenue and Profit

By Michael Deleuran, Daisycon Nordics

Date of publication:

Birk Sport was facing bankruptcy. The family-run business, which had been a dedicated specialist shop for bicycles for decades, was forced to close after significant financial challenges.

When the Norgård family acquired the company’s assets and set out to rebuild Birk Sport, their strategy was to focus on the most profitable stores from before the bankruptcy, as well as the webshop.

The webshop was set to grow and become a more significant part of the business, but not at the expense of profitability. To achieve this, Birk Sport launched its first-ever affiliate programme – exclusively with Daisycon.

Daisycon offered growth without financial risk

Since the only cost associated with affiliate marketing is the pre-agreed percentage of order value from sales generated by the affiliate network’s media partners, Birk Sport, as an advertiser, never risks overspending on advertising compared to the revenue generated – as a fixed percentage ensures a fixed ROAS. This is of course an attractive model for a webshop with growth ambitions, especially when a recent bankruptcy is still fresh in memory.

“For ten years, I have spoken to salespeople from companies that promise the world, yet as customers, we have had to bear all the risk ourselves – without any company being able to show long-term results. What Daisycon offers, on the other hand, is a highly attractive and long-term model, a win-win for all parties.”
– Martin Norgård Vermundsberget, Birk Sport

While many e-commerce businesses see their peak season towards the end of the year, Birk Sport’s busiest months are in spring and summer. Daisycon ensured maximum visibility for Birk Sport by activating a wide range of relevant media partners who actively promoted the brand.
Viatrumf offered Trumf bonuses for webshop purchases, Norwegian online newspapers published content articles about this year’s e-bikes, and carefully selected CSS partners elevated Birk Sport to new heights on Google Shopping. Daisycon managed all this, allowing the Norgård family to focus on other aspects of the business.

Read our blog about using Google CSS partners in the affiliate programme here

“The system is easy to use, and Daisycon is great to work with. We maintain an ongoing dialogue and reach our target audience widely without having to invest much of our own time.”
– Martin Norgård Vermundsberget, Birk Sport

A strong product feed = key to success

In the first year, a poor product feed was a challenge. However, after Daisycon gained access to an improved feed, comparison sites and CSS partners in the network rewarded this by significantly boosting Birk Sport’s affiliate sales. Since then, the affiliate programme has generated millions in revenue for Birk Sport’s webshop every month.

Eighteen months after its bankruptcy, Birk Sport was on track to reach revenue between 83 and 85 million DKK in 2021, with an operating profit of approximately 13 million DKK. While the webshop generated 9.5 million DKK in 2020, it was expected to reach around 24 million DKK by the end of the year.

Fact box: Birk Sport’s affiliate programme in 2021

  • Sales: 1.700+
  • Revenue: 9,000,000 DKK
  • Expenses: 650,000 DKK

This results in a ROAS of well over 10, with no additional costs.

Interview with Birk Sport

We wanted to hear directly from Birk Sport about their thoughts on affiliate marketing, the collaboration so far, and their overall experience.

You have had a couple of intense years. How are things going now?

After a long period of financial difficulties, we are now in a stronger position than ever. Previous year we invested a lot and now we make our webshop shine and reach new heights. We have achieved that while maintaining our focus on being a high-quality specialist store where expert knowledge and service are central. This gives our customers confidence in us, and we are seeing a strong demand for our products. – Martin Norgård Vermundsberget, Birk Sport

You started using affiliate marketing for the first time after the bankruptcy. How has the collaboration been?

At Birk Sport, we have prioritised profitability and solutions that provide long-term returns. We knew in advance that the ‘no cure, no pay’ model was attractive, but Daisycon has delivered exceptionally well and far beyond our expectations – both in terms of results, proactivity, and brand management for Birk Sport.

We are very pleased with our decision to partner with Daisycon and can honestly say that you are one of our most important media partners.

Would you recommend other webshops to start affiliate marketing with Daisycon?

Yes, I highly recommend affiliate marketing to webshops that want results with controlled costs. Daisycon has a vast network with some truly major players, while we don’t have to spend much time managing our affiliate programme, as it largely runs itself.

What’s next for Birk Sport?

We aim to build on our success. We see enormous potential for further growth, and for our webshop, the sky’s the limit with the investments we are making, our skilled employees, and Daisycon as a partner. We will continue to focus on our omni-channel strategy, combining strong expertise and deep knowledge in our physical stores with a seamless customer journey and advanced technical solutions in our webshop.

Daisycon values its strong partnership with Birk Sport and looks forward to continuing the collaboration.

Read more:

Want to learn more? Get in touch!

Would you like to know more about the options available for your webshop? Contact me, and we will discuss the possibilities for your business.

– Michael Deleuran, Daisycon Nordics