University of Portsmouth student project boosts online sales for Southsea fitness and lifestyle brand Runr

The team of three final-year business students won the award for their work as management consultants in helping Southsea-based fitness and lifestyle brand Runr to boost its online sales.

Business co-owner Craig Winter set the team the challenge of finding ways to increase the conversion rate of website visitors into customers, in one of the most crowded markets, against global giants such as Adidas and Nike.

The team carried out extensive research, including interviews and data gathering with Baffins Fit Club members, to get customer insights about Runr’s clothing products.

Through their detailed analysis, they came up with several proposals for Runr, including website changes and the use of reviews. The team’s work has already been implemented by Runr, leading to a doubling of website visitors.

Craig said: ‘As well as the recommendations, the team were great at suggesting other areas to look at, such as producing videos, similar to the likes of Adidas and Nike.

‘They also showed us how easy it was to go along to the Baffins training sessions to run feedback sessions and even take stock to sell in future.

‘This is something that we’ll be looking to do over the coming weeks and months.’

The team were presented with their award by Nathan Cable, a University of Portsmouth graduate and co-founder and CEO of Party Hard Travel. Nathan was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the British Travel and Tourism Hall of Fame 2019.

New for this year, the Portsmouth Business School introduced the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into the projects, recognising the university’s civic and international role in leading the drive towards a zero carbon economy.

Business Consultancy Projects give companies the opportunity to work with a dedicated team of final year students from the University of Portsmouth’s Faculty of Business and Law.

Working to a company’s own brief, students tackle a live issue for the business and deliver valuable solutions to local businesses of all sizes.

To find out more about BCP, please visit www.port.ac.uk/bcp. Or you can email [email protected] or call (023) 9284 4488.

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