At the end of 2020, INTERSPORT, the world’s leading sporting goods retailer, partnered with Wifirst to upgrade and strengthen the reliability of its in-store WiFi networks across INTERSPORT and Blackstore locations—covering around 500 sites. This new network infrastructure enables INTERSPORT teams to remain mobile and efficient throughout their daily operations.
// CHALLENGES FOR THE IT DEPARTMENT
Outsourcing the management of in-store WiFi networks
After varied results with multiple integrators and the move toward WiFi 6 technology, INTERSPORT France’s IT department sought a dedicated WiFi specialist to manage and deploy its point-of-sale networks.
INTERSPORT’s move to a managed WiFi specialist highlights a broader industry trend: managing large-scale, business-critical WiFi networks requires dedicated expertise and resources that are challenging to maintain in-house.
// TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
Building on the IT department’s chosen technical solution
During the initial rollout, several stores were upgraded to WiFi 6 using a Cisco Meraki solution before Wifirst joined the project.
Since the Cisco Meraki solution met INTERSPORT’s requirements and ensured consistency across all stores, Wifirst continued the rollout using Meraki access points. Our teams bring extensive expertise with Cisco Meraki technology, managing tens of thousands of Meraki WiFi and LAN devices for clients in sectors such as defence, hospitality, retail, and corporate environments.
With Meraki Dashboard’s advanced monitoring tools, INTERSPORT’s IT department can track network activity and performance in every store, while overall management is handled by Wifirst’s expert NOC teams.
// PROJECT MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES
Ensuring tailor-made radio coverage in every point-of-sale
While store layouts may be similar, each location is unique and demands a tailored WiFi coverage strategy.
That’s why our technical teams visit every INTERSPORT site to determine the optimal number and placement of access points. This personalised approach ensures seamless, high-performance WiFi in every store—eliminating dead zones, regardless of each location’s specific requirements.
Managing a multi-site project on a national scale
Beyond our expertise in WiFi technology, INTERSPORT’s IT department chose Wifirst for our proven project management, large-scale deployment and operational capabilities, and deep understanding of the retail sector.
Our proven processes, in-house developed tools, and skilled teams are specifically structured to support large retailers with extensive networks across multiple locations.
Wifirst has already equipped nearly 300 INTERSPORT and Blackstore stores, working in sync with a parallel fibre rollout. Each store benefits from a guaranteed 4-hour response time—if a WiFi issue occurs, our teams resolve it within four hours, either remotely or on site.
"The choice of the Wifirst solution was an obvious one for us, not only does Wifirst handle all the implementation but also the supervision of all the teams for all our points of sale."
Eric Goutry
Intersport IT Support Manager
