DAKA Sport & Lifestyle: higher conversions with guided selling
- Higher conversion rate for users of the guided selling tool
- Higher average order value (AOV)
- Less hesitation in a large and technical assortment
About DAKA
DAKA has been a leading player in Dutch sports retail for decades. As a family-owned business founded in 1965, DAKA has grown into an established brand with 17 stores across the Netherlands and a strong online presence.
With one of the largest winter sports departments in the country and a broad, high-quality assortment, DAKA serves athletes at every level.
What truly sets DAKA apart is the combination of deep expertise and a strong focus on customer experience. DAKA positions itself as a partner in the customer’s sporting journey. This approach is reflected in strong customer satisfaction, supported by consistently high review scores.
Primary goal
To strengthen category expertise, increase conversion and average order value, while reducing customer inquiries and returns.
Choosing without context
The challenge
Een bezoeker die online een padelracket zoekt, komt al snel terecht in een overzicht met tientallen opties. Rackets verschillen in vorm, balans, materiaal en speeleigenschappen. Voor iemand die precies weet wat hij zoekt, is dat overzicht waardevol. Voor veel anderen zorgt het juist voor frictie. Die zien veel verschillende opties, met verschillende prijzen van verschillende merken en allerlei verschillende technische specificaties.
Want wat betekent “controle” in de praktijk? Wanneer kies je voor ‘power’? En hoe weet je of een racket bij jouw niveau past?
Dit maakt het lastig voor oriënterende bezoekers om de juiste padelracket te vinden. Ze stellen hun aankoopproces uit, haken sneller af, nemen contact op met de klantenservice voor advies of een aankoop die eigenlijk niet goed aansluit bij de speler.
Dat leidt tot gemiste conversies.
Een ander effect is dat deze bezoekers vaak niet goed begrijpen wat de voordelen zijn van een duurder product omdat ze de technische specificaties niet goed begrijpen. Doordat ze de meerwaarde hier niet van inzien, wordt er sneller gekozen voor een instapmodel.
De vraag voor DAKA was daarom niet alleen hoe ze meer verkopen, maar vooral:
hoe zorgen we dat iemand begrijpt welk racket het beste bij hem/haar past?
A guided selling tool that thinks along
The solution
Together with Qonfi, DAKA implemented an interactive guided selling tool that helps visitors choose the right padel racket.
Instead of relying on technical product filters, the tool is built around how someone plays, their level, and their preferences on the court.
The guided selling tool translates this input into a personalized recommendation, featuring a clear best match and relevant alternatives. This makes in-store expertise scalable online, without requiring visitors to search or compare on their own.
DAKA places the guided selling tool prominently on the padel racket category page, ensuring that browsing visitors are immediately aware of the option to get help.
Personalized guidance starts the moment a visitor clicks “Start the guided selling tool.” From there, they are asked a series of questions about their skill level, playing style, preferences around racket shape, and personal preferences.
After a few steps, you’re not presented with a long list of products, but taken straight to the right padel racket. At the top, you’ll see your best match.
The guided selling tool doesn’t just tell you what to choose, it also explains why certain rackets are the best fit. This creates confidence and removes doubt. The recommendation is clearly supported, which makes it feel more reliable.
Below the racket, you can see exactly why this is a strong match:
- it’s suitable for intermediate players,
- fits an all-round playing style,
- offers a balance between control and power,
- has a medium feel,
- and matches your preference for Dunlop.
In this case, the best match sits slightly above the budget you entered. Without guidance, you likely wouldn’t have come across this racket, as it would have been filtered out by a standard price filter.
However, the guided selling tool looks beyond price alone. Based on your answers, this racket is recommended as the best match because it better fits how you play. That small step up in price becomes easier to understand, you’re not choosing the cheapest option, but the one that actually suits you best.
Alongside the best match, you’ll also see relevant alternatives. These might lean more towards control or fall within a slightly lower price range, while still matching your preferences. You retain the freedom to choose, but without having to search or filter all over again.
Ready for further on-site personalization and follow-up
Guided selling not only provides personalized advice, it also generates valuable zero-party data through the interaction with the visitor. Users consciously share information about how they play, their skill level, and their preferences around control, power, and budget.
This data is highly valuable for enriching existing customer profiles and can be used to power on-site personalization and marketing automation.
For DAKA, this creates the opportunity to follow up with visitors in a more targeted way, based on their playing style and preferences. Instead of generic communication, follow-up can be tailored to what someone is actually looking for.
For example:
- on-site personalization of category pages, showing content that aligns with previously selected preferences
- email campaigns segmented by playing style or skill level
- targeted product recommendations during a returning visit
More insight through collected zero-party data
The same zero-party data can also be used more broadly. During the guided selling flow, DAKA gains insight into:
- which playing styles are most common,
- which types of rackets are recommended most often,
- where visitors drop off or continue through the flow,
- how well the assortment matches what visitors are looking for.
Results
By guiding visitors through guided selling instead of letting them search on their own, they are able to make faster decisions that better match their needs. This is directly reflected in the results:
✔ Higher conversion rate among users of the guided selling tool
✔ Higher average order value (AOV)
