Challenge
Fast-growing companies often outgrow their tech. New business models, new systems, new markets and integrations eventually lead to a costly replatforming project.
Sportson has been a Norce customer since 2017. Since then, the business has transformed. What started as a small side project, corporate employee benefit bikes, grew into their largest ecommerce revenue stream. They switched ERP systems. They built custom order management tools. They expanded into new service areas.
On the employee benefits side, growth has been dramatic. "It grew a lot faster than we could have imagined. Within two years we went from two portals to a couple of hundred," says Jonas Holtbo, Marketing and Establishment Manager at Sportson. Today, Sportson manages roughly 1,500 active company portals.
That level of growth requires a commerce engine that can keep up.
"It grew a lot faster than we could have imagined. Within two years we went from two portals to a couple of hundred."
Jonas Holtbo, Marketing and Establishment Manager at Sportson
Action
The answer has been Norce's API-first architecture and the freedom to build on top of it. Together with solution partner Grebban, Sportson built their ecommerce foundation on Norce in 2017. Since then, they've never stopped evolving it.
Instead of being constrained by a rigid platform, Sportson has built freely around the core. When the employee benefits business took off, they created custom order management tools on top of Norce. When they switched ERP in 2022, the integration was straightforward. When new business ideas emerge, they connect new services instead of rebuilding.
"If leadership decides to move in a new direction, we can always do it," says Daniel. "We don't need to tear everything down and start over. We just plug in a new service and move quickly."
The foundation remains stable in Norce. While everything Sportson builds connect via APIs: their service booking system, their in-store tools, even systems for partner companies operating on the same platform.
Their tech stack includes:
- GrebbCommerce as frontend and CMS(by Grebban)
- Heads as ERP and POS
- Algolia for search
"It doesn't become a blocker; it becomes an enabler. We can spin up new services almost on the fly," says Daniel.
"If leadership decides to move in a new direction, we can always do it," says Daniel. "We don't need to tear everything down and start over. We just plug in a new service and move quickly."
"It's been the right choice. The API is Norce’s biggest strength. It gives us flexibility."
Jonas Holtbo, Marketing and Establishment Manager at Sportson
Impact
What started as a simple ecommerce setup has supported nearly a decade of continuous growth, without replatforming.
The employee benefits business alone has generated over 500 million SEK in revenue since launch. What began with manual Excel sheets in the early days now handles significant scale: from five corporate customers in year one to 100 customers per week today, across roughly 1,500 active company portals.
Sportson has built internal tools, switched ERP systems, and launched services for partner companies in Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. All on the same Norce foundation.
"It's been the right choice," says Daniel. "The API is Norce’s biggest strength. It gives us flexibility."
And the journey continues. Home delivery and private bike leasing are next in line.
In 2017, Sportson made a choice that is rare: selecting a commerce platform still relevant almost a decade later. No costly migrations or rebuilding from scratch. Just a foundation that grew with the business.
It's a reminder that the right platform choice isn't about today's needs. It's about the needs you can't predict yet. Sportson made the right choice.
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