Reebok sought a vendor who had the capability of implementing a global, enterprise level solution for a new "dCommerce" platform. arvato systems North America quickly provided to be an ideal candidate for this initiative. "One of the core competencies of arvato systems North America is the delivery of cutting edge, full-value-chain e-Commerce solutions." arvato was a perfect match as it had the capability of offering this "full-value-chain" solution with the inclusion of cell centers, distribution, logistics, financial services, and a powerful e-Commerce platform. Apart from these core competencies, arvato still "had to face two main complexities: a global and marketing oriented client with creative and fast changing requirements and the coordination of multiple agencies that built pieces of the overall program that had to be integrated with our pivotal platform. For example, the creative front end, a shoe customizer, a mobile solution, the clients SAP systems, the logistics, the call centers, the translation agency, and the financial services. To be able to deal with this challenging environment [arvato] put together a strong New York based team and adapted the agile software development methodology for fast reaction time to the always changing environment."

arvato's own careful approach to both what technology it chose as well as how it would go about implementing Reebok's solution would prove to be key success factors. First, arvato's "agile" software development approach allowed Reebok to change requirements late in the project in order to work towards the greatest ROI. The approach also consisted of utilizing resources with a wide range of abilities. arvato's consultants, both based in New York as well as Germany, specialized in not only comprehensive technical know-how but provided seasoned e-Commerce guidance as Reebok moved into unchartered waters. This type of closely integrated, focused team, yielded much appreciated value to Reebok. Second, arvato implemented a flexible, robust, and highly customized e-Commerce platform that would integrate with more than a dozen B2B and B2C layers. On one end, the platform consisted of highly modular components using the industry standard technology. Externally, its modular architecture allowed for web service connectivity to other layers of Reebok's solution. Internally, the architecture enabled areas of the system to be easily customized, added, or removed based on the needs of the business. From a long-term maintenance point of view, the advantages came out in the platform's overall scalability and low cost of ownership factor. Future adjustments to platform features, application logic, and general system maintenance activities would be able to be performed by the business and without the need for specialized software engineers. Lastly, because of Reebok's global requirements, the platform was able to smoothly work with internationalization requirements, from multi-language support to easy rollout of products in additional countries. On the other end, a rich, flash-based online shop easily connected to arvato's platform, taking advantage of powerful site optimization features offered in additional layers of Reebok's solution. An area for customer service representatives, integration with mobile devices, as well as call center and SAP system integration were offered by arvato's platform. Finally, another part of the solution was a "one-stop" web-based interface for product management by the business but also complete platform management for system administrators. Leading technologies such as AJAX and Ruby on Rails were incorporated for richer, more flexible functionality.

With the Reebok "dCommerce" platform spanning 31 countries worldwide, arvato played a leading role in the success of the project. arvato provided Reebok its full value chain, from technical solutions, customer care, order fulfillment, down to financial services. "The complex project has been a very unique experience not only because of the highly motivated and efficient team but due to the smooth collaboration with the client, the affiliated arvato companies, and third parties," Dagmar reviews the work-intensive last nine months. "4 Key functionalities implemented by arvato resulted in an overall sales boost for Reebok." Catherine Thomason, Reebok's head of digital commerce explains, "We have seen a significant increase and are finding that more people are buying multiple items - the key drivers for which are three-fold. The merchandising is managed entirely in-house, which means that we are able to display the entire breadth of our product range, the "you may also like" (or cross sell / up sell) option is introducing new and complementary products and we have implemented a cleaner, simpler check-out process specifically designed with our current consumer in mind." As of Q4 2008, additional features and country rollouts are planned. arvato has also taken on the role for logistics and training for a long term, competitively priced product maintenance plan for Reebok.