How a Global Sports Retailer Used Huq to Optimise Store Performance Across EMEA
Case Study
Client Overview
As a leading global retailer in the sports and lifestyle sector, this company operates an extensive store network across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In an increasingly competitive retail landscape, they sought to optimise their store performance by gaining a clearer understanding of consumer movement patterns, catchment demographics, and spending behaviours.
To maintain a strong market position, the company needed a data-driven approach to assess retail locations, benchmark performance against competitors, and refine its expansion strategy. However, fragmented regional data and inconsistent reporting methodologies made it challenging to derive actionable insights. The business required a scalable, standardised solution to support strategic decision-making and enhance collaboration across multiple territories.

“Understanding consumer movement and market dynamics across multiple territories has been a persistent challenge. We needed a reliable, data-driven solution to optimise store performance, benchmark against competitors, and make informed expansion decisions.”
The Challenge
The company struggled to gain a unified, data-driven view of consumer movement, retail performance, and competitor benchmarking across multiple territories, limiting their ability to optimise store strategy and expansion. So the retailer partnered with Huq Industries with the hope of leveraging its advanced data solutions to:
Asses Store Performance
Provide detailed insights into footfall, catchment areas, dwell times, and credit card spend around their stores and key competitor locations.
Dynamic Reporting
Enable dynamic and flexible reporting, allowing Nike to analyse data at both a macro and granular level to identify opportunities for store network optimisation.
Standardised Intelligence
Deliver standardised and scalable data solutions to support the retailers global and regional teams in achieving consistency and clarity.
Huq's Solution
Our goal was to equip the client with precise, real-time insights into consumer movement and market dynamics, enabling them to optimise store performance and confidently drive strategic growth.
The primary objective of Huq was to provide accurate, scalable, and standardised location intelligence that enabled the company to optimise store performance, benchmark against competitors, and make data-driven expansion decisions across multiple territories.
Key features of Huq’s solution included:
Detailed Location Intelligence
Huq’s platform enabled the measurement of footfall trends and dwell times in key retail locations. By analysing aggregated and anonymised GPS data, Huq provided insights into visitor behaviour within stores and surrounding areas.
Customised Reporting
The client utilised dynamic and aggregated KPI tracking, enabling consistent reporting across its territories. The platform’s flexibility allowed the analysis macroeconomic retail trends alongside store-specific data.
Historical Data Integration
Huq facilitated the integration of historical data to provide longitudinal analyses and insights into trends over time.
How Huq's Solution Helped
Since implementing Huq’s solution, the retailer has made significant strides in addressing its business challenges. The integration of Huq’s data into their retail planning and reporting workflows has empowered the company to:
Optimise Store Locations
The client used Huq’s catchment and footfall analysis to prioritise investments in high-impact retail locations. The EMEA team leveraged these insights to assess the performance of existing stores and identify opportunities for expansion. For example, Huq’s data enabled the retailer to evaluate trade zones in European retail parks and high streets, guiding their decision-making around new store openings.
Enhance Reporting Consistency
Huq’s dynamic KPI reporting has been a critical tool in the clients Monthly Business Reviews (MBRs). The EMEA team has consistently used Huq’s data since the summer of 2023 to track key performance indicators and benchmark their stores’ performance at a country and regional level.
Respond to Macro Trends
With the ability to analyse footfall and spending trends at a macro level, the retailer has been able to identify shifts in consumer behaviour. This capability has been particularly valuable during seasonal peaks such as ‘Back to School’ and Black Friday, where the client used Huq’s data to assess retail performance and inform holiday reporting analyses.
Final comments
The partnership with Huq Industries exemplifies the value of leveraging advanced data solutions to overcome complex business challenges. Through Huq’s detailed insights into footfall, consumer spending, and competitor benchmarking, the retailer has been able to refine its retail strategy, enhance reporting consistency, and stay ahead in a highly competitive market. This case study highlights the success that can be achieved when businesses integrate data-driven approaches into their operations.
If your business is looking to gain a competitive edge and make smarter location-based decisions, Huq’s location intelligence solutions provide the clarity and confidence needed to succeed in a fast-moving market.
“Huq’s data solutions have been instrumental in helping us understand consumer behaviour at a granular level while also providing the flexibility to assess broader market trends. Their insights have enabled us to optimise our retail network and make data-driven decisions with confidence”
Omnichannel and Digital Returns Insights and Analytics Head (EMEA)
Is your business facing similar challenges?
Our experienced team can demonstrate how to use location intelligence and analytics to augment a wide range of use cases, including:
- Identifying locations for new stores
- Optimising your existing store portfolio
- Informing your pricing strategy
- Improving the effectiveness of marketing
- Benchmarking performance across locations
- Understanding competitor landscape
- Optimising opening hours