Case study Thule: Bring your life

The outdoor company Thule has built a growing and global presence in its specific niche: developing and constructing equipment that makes it easy for people to live an active life. In 2024 the company had revenues of 9.5 billion SEK and was active in 138 countries. 

The venerable company, Thule was founded back in 1942, recently decided to expand its digital direct-to-consumer sales, and as a result wanted to modernise its architecture and its way of working. Among other things, the company's e-commerce platform at the time needed to be reviewed, says Jessica Eriksson, Director Global Online Solutions at Thule. The new platform had to meet several important functions: being compatible with a global presence and working together with Thule's omnistore concept. But even if the requirement list was clear, there was a range of potential platform vendors that could be relevant, and to make sure the choice would be as good as possible, Thule chose to turn to Commerce Mind.  

"There were a few given candidates and even if we could guess which they are ourselves, we do not have experience of them. Then it feels nice to have someone who can come from outside and help in that process, and also inform us of options that maybe were not on our radar."

- Jessica Eriksson, Director Global Online Solutions 

Rickard Jönsson and Martin Zellman at Commerce Mind who worked with Thule.

"Credible, honest and easy to work with" 

She feels Commerce Mind excellently guided Thule through the process that followed. The companies' collaboration came to include everything from strategy and procurement to integrations, processes and ways of working. Jessica Eriksson describes two specific things about the collaboration as extra valuable. One was precisely that Commerce Mind narrowed down which vendors were worth looking at more closely, and the other was that they could provide Thule with contacts for references, that is, other companies that could describe the pros and cons of different options in an honest way. Jessica Eriksson puts words to the uncertainty and to how Commerce Mind supports:

"Platform vendors are often very happy to provide references. But you want independent references, and that is where Commerce Mind feel credible, honest and easy to work with." 

Petter Mattsson, Head of Platform at Thule, is on the same line:  

"Being able to talk to people who have worked with Commerce Mind before and who have already chosen different solutions, and getting an uncensored picture of their experiences of procurement, daily operations and implementation, in short getting more nuance, was very valuable." 

"Inside information" before it is too late

Petter Mattsson on how rewarding the collaboration was:

"On top of that, Commerce Mind helped with concrete preparations ahead of Thule's meetings with vendors. Among other things, the company gave us tips on suitable questions to ask."

Sometimes the selling party chooses to avoid answering questions you ask clearly, and sometimes you do not know which questions are critical to ask, he notes.  

Often it is the details that decide, and they are extremely hard to catch in a procurement because there is so incredibly much to think about. So it is about finding the details that are critical for our business and our implementation and investigating those parts so that you are sure they work. Commerce Mind has been able to help us with that. Petter Mattsson on what was completely decisive:

"Precisely that Commerce Mind is independent, the company neither offers its own e-commerce platform nor gets compensation from any vendors."

He is echoed by his colleague Johan Alkesund, Head of Development at Thule:  

"It matters because it gives a sense of seriousness. They have no self-interest in which platform we choose, they think from our perspective and what suits us best. The choice was ours, but Commerce Mind guided in a nice way that meant you never felt pressured into anything.

If you talk directly with the vendors they of course want to sell their platforms. If you ask them, everything works. Then Commerce Mind can give a more complete picture because they have seen how things work in reality. As a customer you get 'inside information' you otherwise would not have got until you had already signed a contract and started implementing, and then it is too late."  

"They do not shy away from being a bit uncomfortable"

Beyond helping with the strategic business process, Commerce Mind has been involved in and supported the implementation of the new e-commerce platform. During the months the collaboration has been running, the trio at Thule have identified another parameter with Commerce Mind that they gladly highlight. Petter Mattsson, Head of Platform, again: 

"They do not shy away from being a bit uncomfortable. We turned things around a number of times. It was quite frustrating but in the end I think it was very valuable."

 Johan Alkesund, Head of Development, adds:

"They asked the questions we might not have thought of but that we actually needed answers to."

All three describe Commerce Mind as unpretentious, pleasant and easy to deal with. In addition, Commerce Mind could be helpful in another slightly more practical respect. When the collaboration had progressed to the point where the new platform had been chosen and implementation was about to start, a platform for integrations and queue handling in the e-commerce was also needed.

Petter Mattsson, Hanna Lönnqvist and Johan Alkesund from Thule.

"A puzzle piece that fell into place"

For that purpose, Commerce Mind has built its own open source service, Nexus, that their clients are allowed to use free of charge. Johan Alkesund again:

"That was also a puzzle piece that just fell into place. Of course we evaluated their solution against others, but concluded that this is precisely what we need. And the reason is that they have built it based on their own experience from the industry, where many companies obviously have similar challenges."

The collaboration between Thule and Commerce Mind has worked so well that Thule eventually chose to use Commerce Mind's services in yet another procurement, this time for a marketing automation platform. That part of the collaboration has also worked excellently, Jessica Eriksson thinks: 

"Commerce Mind has nothing to gain or lose from the choices we make, they are simply interested in this turning out well for us. The collaboration is very relaxed and easy-going. We see them as temporary colleagues rather than as a vendor."

The group at Thule would not hesitate to recommend others to also turn to Commerce Mind if they are facing a change in their e-commerce operation. Johan Alkesund concludes:

"I think if you test Commerce Mind and against expectations feel this was not for me, it is not a huge amount of money you lose. So it is absolutely worth giving it a try. The risk of losing money is much greater if you do not."