Scaling smarter with insights from SPS Analytics

The challenge

On, a premium Swiss athletic and performance brand, was poised for international growth. But as they expanded into the U.S. market and beyond, success hinged on their ability to meet the expectations of top-tier retailers and scale with data-backed precision.

The company’s early executive leadership understood that competing in North America required more than strong branding—it meant having access to POS and inventory data that could inform product decisions, retail strategies and sell-through performance. That’s why they partnered with SPS Commerce.

When Jimmy Kim joined On, he was tasked with making sense of that data. As Senior Lead in Sales Planning, he quickly realized that without a centralized strategy, it was difficult to extract insights, align teams or act on emerging trends in time to make an impact.

“Without SPS, we’d be steering the business completely blind. It’s not just useful—it’s necessary.”

– Jimmy Kim, Senior Lead in Sales Planning, On

The solution

On leverages the full power of SPS Analytics to gain a 360-degree view of their retail performance. The team combines three capabilities—Collaboration Analytics, Performance Analytics and Analytics Delivery Service—to bring data into every stage of their business planning.

With Performance Analytics, they access robust reporting and instant insights into product performance, inventory and trends. Collaboration Analytics enables On to speak the same language as their retail partners—literally. By syncing segmentation methods and terminology, On can hold data-driven business reviews that feel collaborative and efficient. And with Analytics Delivery Service, SPS delivers files directly to On’s engineering team, allowing them to bring POS and inventory data into their preferred BI tool, Lookr, for deeper analysis and alignment across their organization.

By using SPS Analytics, the team was able to:

• Uncover a shift in consumer behavior from running to lifestyle products
• Optimize product mix and replenishment by vertical and region
• Align sell-through strategies with key retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Scheels
• Navigate pricing changes and mitigate margin risk due to tariffs

“When we meet with retailers now, the conversations are fluid and efficient. We’re aligned. And that makes a huge difference.”

– Jimmy Kim, Senior Lead in Sales Planning, On

What began as a daunting technical project quickly turned into a seamless process thanks to support from the SPS team, Jimmy’s business acumen and his enthusiasm for maximizing their partnership. Patrick Herbst, Senior Customer Success Executive at SPS, who worked with Jimmy and the On team from the beginning, said, “One of the key factors that other companies can learn from the success On has had is to lean into the process with SPS.”

“I didn’t want to take on this project at first, but working with Patrick and the SPS team made it so easy. My colleagues thought I was a genius.”

– Jimmy Kim, Senior Lead in Sales Planning, On

The results

SPS Analytics is now embedded across On’s entire organization, from sales to planning to merchandising.

The data has powered major decisions, including:

• Strategic product launches based on cross-channel performance trends
• Inventory risk reduction through proactive reporting and collaboration
• Global team expansion in Asia and Europe, using the data practices developed with Jimmy and his SPS partners

Internally, SPS Analytics enabled them to create alignment across more than 70 decision-makers during monthly business reviews, using retailer and DTC performance to shape strategy across departments.