The Brand

Thule is a global consumer goods company designing and manufacturing premium outdoor, transport, and travel products. The brand serves both B2B and B2C audiences worldwide, with B2B retail partners accounting for a significant share of total sales.

Alongside a strong wholesale and physical retail presence, Thule operates direct-to-consumer ecommerce websites across multiple international markets. The online catalogue spans a wide range of categories, including roof racks and cargo carriers, bike and ski equipment, strollers and child seats, luggage and backpacks, dog products, and camping and RV solutions such as rooftop tents and awnings.

With a technically complex product range and a global footprint, product discovery plays a critical role in how customers engage with the brand and confidently select the right solution.

The Challenge

Before working with Athos Commerce, Thule relied on a basic on-site search setup that offered limited relevance, control, and visibility.

Search results were often inconsistent or inaccurate, making product discovery difficult for customers. Internally, search was managed through a developer-focused setup with no intuitive interface for ecommerce teams. Synonym management, ranking adjustments, and search optimization all required development involvement, limiting speed and flexibility.

Key challenges included:

• Poor relevance and unreliable search results
  
• No interface to manage synonyms or keyword variations
  
• Limited control over ranking and merchandising logic
  
• Incomplete or inconsistent filters and attributes
  
• No effective handling of zero-results searches
  
• No analytics or reporting to understand search behavior
  

As a result, Thule lacked insight into how customers were using search and where discovery was breaking down. The team could not identify high-impact queries, understand zero-result searches, or make informed improvements. Search adoption remained limited, and user trust in search as a discovery tool was low.

These challenges were amplified by the complexity of Thule’s product landscape. Customers frequently search using car brands, models, or specific use cases that do not map directly to individual products. Combined with long purchase cycles and limited repeat behavior, delivering accurate and guided discovery required a more advanced and adaptable solution.

The Solution

Thule selected Athos Commerce following a structured evaluation of leading search and discovery platforms. The decision was driven by Athos Commerce’s ability to deliver rapid improvements in relevance and insight, while remaining efficient to implement and easy to manage for internal teams.   

Athos Commerce provided Thule with an AI-driven, self-learning search platform that gave ecommerce teams direct control over search performance. The solution addressed core requirements around relevance, synonym management, ranking control, filtering, zero-results handling, and analytics, without introducing unnecessary complexity.

Implementation was fast and well coordinated. Thule adopted an API-based approach to retain full control over design and functionality across markets. Initial technical considerations related to configuration and data feeds were resolved quickly through close collaboration between Athos Commerce engineers and Thule’s development team.

Search was launched simultaneously across 23 markets without major incidents.

Today, Athos Commerce powers on-site search and product recommendations across Thule’s direct-to-consumer websites. The ecommerce team actively uses search analytics and zero-results reports to identify gaps in discovery and take action. This includes adding synonyms, creating redirects to relevant categories or landing pages, and delivering tailored messaging for discontinued products or spare parts.

The Results

Since implementation, Thule has recorded strong and consistent improvements:

• Search usage increased by 80%, supported by improved relevance and a redesigned search bar
  
• Search users convert at 2.69%, compared to 0.59 percent for non-search users
  
• Search exit rate decreased by 41% over time
  
• Click-through rate increased by 10%, driven by improved relevance, filters, and results presentation
  

Operationally, Athos Commerce has reduced reliance on development teams and enabled faster, data-driven optimization. Internal feedback from ecommerce, customer service, and retail teams confirms improved product findability and a stronger overall search experience.

Looking ahead, Thule plans to expand product recommendations across additional discovery touchpoints and introduce category merchandising powered by Athos Commerce. The objective is to continue strengthening product discovery across the entire customer journey, while supporting both global scale and local market relevance.

Partner with Athos Commerce to transform your ecommerce store. With proven tools and expertise in search and merchandising, we empower businesses to achieve measurable growth. Contact us today to start optimizing your store for success.