Sports & Fitness Ecommerce Agency

Sports stores that help people pick the right size first time

We’re Actuate, an ecommerce agency in Manchester, and a lot of our work is for brands selling technical kit on Magento and Shopify, where the sale is won or lost on size, fit and spec. If you’d rather meet in person, we’re right next to Piccadilly station.

Your customers know what they want, but they need to be sure it’ll fit before they buy. If the size guide is buried, the filters can’t narrow down by spec or the search can’t find a model number, they either go elsewhere or order two sizes and send one back.

So we build the sizing help, filtering and search that get people to the right item first time.

Most projects start with an NNP Workshop.

Book my NNP Workshop

Development That Delivers Under Pressure

For a big technical catalogue with configurable bundles, or trade and retail customers on one site, we’d usually put you on Magento or Adobe Commerce with a Hyvä frontend. If your range is simpler and you run lots of campaigns, Shopify does the job, and we’ll say so.

Magento Open Source gives you full control for complex setups, like configurable kits or multi-item nutrition packs, with shipping logic, discount rules and checkout flows built around each type of customer.

Adobe Commerce adds customer segmentation and pricing rules for different buyer groups, so you can offer members exclusive deals or run more than one storefront from one place.

Shopify and Shopify Plus suit brands running flash sales, ambassador-driven traffic or subscription products like protein, without needing a developer for every change.

Help me choose a platform

UX & UI That Moves With Your Customers

Your customers don’t hang about, so the site has to get them to the right product quickly: clear category navigation, search that understands model names and specs, and sizing help right where they need it.

Whether you sell helmets, wearables or pre-workout, the same work turns first-time buyers into repeat customers, and it’s built for a phone from the start.

Show me how you design

Support That Matches Your Momentum

Your range changes, your campaigns move and your peak season is never quite the same twice. On a retainer we handle the technical updates, performance work, CRO and new features, with a call every fortnight and a full CRO audit every three months.

Keep my site growing

Helmet City

Helmet City sell motorcycle helmets and riding kit from five stores and online, and like any technical kit, the sale depends on size, fit and spec. Their stores were thriving, but a bloated Magento 2 theme carrying dozens of plugins nobody needed had made the website slow.

We sorted their GA4 tracking first, then rebuilt the frontend on Hyvä in time for Black Friday. Four seconds came off the load time, and conversion went up 16% and engagement 21%. On the retainer since, we’ve built smarter helmet sizing and a rebuilt search, and conversion has gone up another 9%.

View Case Study

Client Helmet City

Sector Automotive

Platform Magento 2, Hyvä

Project Time Rebuild, then retained CRO

Increase in Conversion Rate

A Hyvä rebuild with a UX-led design was lifting conversion within four weeks of launch.

16%

Increase in Engagement Rate

A faster, cleaner site meant customers stayed longer and browsed more.

21%

Shaved Off Page Load Time

Stripping out a bloated ThemeForest theme and dozens of unnecessary plugins made every page quicker.

What our clients say

"What impressed us most was how quickly Actuate identified the root cause. Within the first call they'd spotted the metadata issue that had been tanking our traffic. Everything that followed has been just as sharp."

Mitch Tamcken AutoID

I like working with Actuate because they care about what they do, they clarify the detail to get the job done right. They have worked incredibly hard with our complex needs and have been on hand for help and advice every step along the way...

Catherine Lund-Barker Elcometer

Without Actuate's help and support, our original website wouldn’t have succeeded. Time was of the essence, and Actuate stepped in to deliver a swift turnaround. The new site has performed exceptionally well ever since. We continue to grow thanks to Actuate. ❤️ Thanks guys!”

Chantelle Telford Robinsons of Bawtry

Their team leverages their expertise to provide sound opinions and advice to guide the project in the right direction.

Daniel Wright Reliant

I worked with Actuate on the redevelopment of the Pickett London website. Their team is an excellent asset for any company or team, it was a pleasure to work with them - easy to communicate with, easy to reach and always willing to help.

Oliver Moser Pickett

Working with Actuate is a pleasure — they are really trying to help, they listen and offer solutions to solve the problems. Thanks for all your help so far.

Rafael Bielinski Buller Ltd

We've worked with Actuate for several years and the results have been consistent. Conversion rate up 113%, AOV up, bounce rate down. They know our business inside out, and it shows.

Rob Dyer Be My Bear

Frequently Asked Questions.

Get in Touch

Yes. Sizes, fits, specs and compatibility are our norm. We structure browsing and filtering so customers can narrow down to the right kit quickly.

Better filtering, sizing guidance and product content, plus search that understands model names and specs. We test each change, so you can see which ones help people choose.

Yes. Many sports retailers sell across channels. We connect the online store to the wider operation so both online and in-store pull their weight.

Magento or Adobe Commerce for big technical catalogues, or Shopify for simpler ranges. We match it to your catalogue and plans.