Anyone who plays tennis in Europe today can hardly avoid Tennis-Point. The company has developed from a small specialist store into the leading European retailer for racket sports and is firmly established in more than 31 countries. Particularly in markets with customs borders such as Switzerland and the ssTennis-Point has proven that cross-border shipping with the right partner is not rocket science. Olaf Koch, EVP Logistics at Tennis-Point, gives us an exclusive look behind the scenes of their e-commerce success and explains how they have built a seamless cross-border logistics solution together with MS Direct.
Olaf Koch has been EVP since the beginning of 2018 Logistics at Tennis-Point and is responsible for all of the company's logistics processes, including warehousing, returns management, transportation, packaging and customs clearance. With over 20 years of experience in logistics dating back to 1998, he previously helped to set up logistics sites at Adidas and Gerry Weber.
Olaf Koch, EVP Logistics Tennis-Point
By tennis players for tennis players
If there is one factor that accounts for the success of the largest supplier of tennis equipment in Europe, it is the combination of an extensive range for ambitious beginners through to professionals, a customer-friendly price structure and a genuine passion for the sport on the court.
For over 25 years, Tennis-Point has stood for real proximity to the tennis community. Founded in 1999 as a small specialist store, Tennis-Point has developed into Europe’s leading tennis retailer in more than two decades. Today, the company is headquartered in Germany, operates throughout Europe and runs 31 retail stores in addition to its rapidly growing online business.
With its steady expansion over the years, Tennis-Point has established comprehensive and well-structured cross-border logistics processes that ensure a seamless customer experience even in more complex markets such as Switzerland and the UK.
Olaf, what exactly does Tennis-Point's business model look like?
“Today, Tennis-Point is much more than just an online store for tennis equipment. Our product range now covers the entire world of racket sports – not only tennis but also padel and pickleball, supplemented by the running category. At the same time, we consciously focus on customer proximity with strategically selected store locations and benefit programs to promote tennis.
However, the focus of our business is clearly on e-commerce. With more than 250 million webshop visitors and deliveries to over 200 countries, we generate around 80 percent of our turnover from online sales. Europe remains our key market, where we are working to further expand our leading position. In Central and Western Europe, we are pursuing ambitious growth plans for the coming years.”
What is your growth strategy?
“We are planning to further expand our presence in the DACH region as well as in France, Italy and Spain. On the one hand, this means opening more stores and strengthening our commitment in these target countries – and on the other hand, optimizing the shopping experience in the online business.
We also see considerable potential in the Swiss market to significantly increase our sales in the coming years. Our logistics have already been optimized so that our customers do not notice the customs border. However, we now want to work on our online store and introduce advantage programs that were previously only available on the EU market.”
How could your logistics support this growth?
“It’s almost hard to believe that Tennis-Point began 26 years ago as a small retail store in Germany and operated a catalog mail order by fax in the early years. Over time, more and more stores were added and the online business was continuously expanded.
We pursue a central storage and shipping strategy – in other words, we supply all countries from a single location. To achieve this, we have optimized our logistics in Herzebrock several times, set up an AutoStore system and expanded it several times. Today, over 100 robots are in use on more than 12,000 square meters of logistics space.
A particular focus in the expansion of our logistics was on our cross-border markets. Here we apply the Delivery Duty Paid principle: All prices are final prices that already include customs duties and import sales tax. When we entered Switzerland in 2018, we relied on the support of MS Direct, which now handles the entire shipping and administrative processes for Switzerland and the UK.”
How did MS Direct support you in setting up your cross-border processes?
“It was clear to us from the outset that we needed an expert for the Swiss market. MS Direct provided us with comprehensive advice when we entered the market and set up the logistical and administrative customs processes for us.
At that time, our cross-border business was still small. Today, we have grown into these markets together with MS Direct. With increasing volumes came new challenges – especially returns. But MS Direct also had the right solution for this: our returns are now processed, cleared through customs and sent back to us on a daily basis. Customers receive their refund the day after the inspection – that’s a real bonus for them and a strong competitive advantage for us.
MS Direct’s expertise also proved invaluable during Brexit in 2021. They reacted early, found the right partners and set us up in the UK in the same way as in Switzerland – with a dedicated direct connection, daily collections, customs clearance and subsequent last mile delivery with a local returns hub. In addition, we were able to benefit early on from the complex customs clearance system for high-value and low-value goods in the UK.
We have been working closely with the MS Direct team for many years now and have found a real partner we can rely on. They have shown us that cross-border trade is no secret with the right partner.”
Where do you see the biggest challenges in cross-border e-commerce?
“My honest opinion: with the right partner, cross-border logistics is no more complicated today than shipping within the EU. After all, there are also special regulations in EU countries that are associated with administrative costs – such as the packaging regulations in France. And anyone who already delivers to EU countries outside the eurozone is familiar with the challenges of currency conversion.
In my experience, the biggest challenge in cross-border e-commerce is cost control. Logistics costs money – and to remain profitable, processes must run smoothly and product data must be properly maintained. It’s difficult to set a product price if I can’t estimate in advance what it will cost me to import it into the country in question.
Pricing in the UK is particularly complex. Customs duties are value-based – anyone who does not maintain their product data properly and classifies it incorrectly risks unnecessary costs. In Switzerland, this has become easier since this year – now only the import sales tax applies.
My conclusion: If you want to approach cross-border shipping to Switzerland or the UK in particular, you need one thing above all else – a clear plan, reliable data and the right partner at your side. The demand in these markets is there – and it’s worth it.”
Rethinking the formula for success in cross-border e-commerce
For years, MS Direct has successfully supported retailers entering markets with customs borders – particularly in Switzerland, the UK and Norway. The focus has always been on creating the smoothest possible processes for end customers – and keeping the effort for the retailers themselves as low as possible.
With increasing digitalization and growing demands in e-commerce, MS Direct has now further developed its proven cross-border concept. Under the leadership of Eva Tyssen, VP Product & Customer Success, CrossborderX was created – a modular solution that was officially launched this summer.
Eva, what was the guiding principle behind the development of CrossborderX?
“We wanted to create a solution that covers the entire cross-border shipping and returns process. Our aim was to develop a modular shipping platform that can be flexibly adapted to the needs of retailers. Some only need support with customs clearance or returns processing, others are looking for a transportation solution, others need the complete package – and that’s exactly what CrossborderX offers.
The basis was already in place. We already had the expertise in customs clearance both in the EU and in third countries, as well as many years of experience in returns processing and transportation planning. What we still lacked was our own integrated technology that would link everything together on a modular basis. With CrossborderX, we now offer a system that maps all processes.”
What exactly does your new shipping platform offer?
“Essentially, we cover the entire cross-border process for online retailers: from master data maintenance, customs clearance, complete transport planning and taxation to returns and carrier performance management.
Customizability is the key aspect here. This is particularly evident in the transport solution: we can organize both dedicated and consolidated routes to Switzerland, the UK and Norway – from the warehouse to the end customer. Our platform offers access to all relevant carriers, and with our sorting center we can also take care of relabelling if required and offer shipping cost-optimized shipping. The entire service package is complemented by comprehensive real-time shipment tracking for all shipments and a comprehensive performance dashboard for improved carrier evaluation in all countries.
In short, our holistic solution makes cross-border trade effortless and enables online stores to benefit from lucrative markets such as Switzerland, the UK and Norway with minimal effort.”
Growing together across borders
Whether Switzerland, Great Britain or Norway – Those who have clear processes, reliable partners and the right solution can fully exploit the opportunities of cross-border e-commerce. With CrossborderX MS Direct offers online retailers a flexible tool to take this step – transparent, uncomplicated and without unnecessary hurdles. If you want to expand, you shouldn’t wait for the right moment – you should focus on the right solution.