All the Bs in Baseball: How Rawlings Hit a Home Run on Znode
Situation
Rawlings Sporting Goods is a global authority in diamond sports, offering high-performance sports equipment, apparel, and custom team apparel. The company sells its product through multiple channels including broad retail operations, local sporting goods dealers, and a strong direct-to-consumer ecommerce business.
Challenge
Rawlings identified a critical growth opportunity in better serving leagues, teams, coaches, athletes, parents, and dealers while integrating with Rawlings’ complex production and business systems. Digital commerce became a strategic initiative to unify multiple sales channels, simplify product personalization workflows, and deliver a streamlined experience across varied user personas.
Rawlings entered the project without an existing B2C platform and consumer experience, relying on legacy technology systems that were not developed to support team stores, personalized ordering, unique pricing, or approval workflows. Ecommerce and dealer systems operated independently, and processes for store setup, artwork management, and product configuration required significant manual coordination.
Rawlings needed an ecommerce platform and complete solution capable of handling real-time product customization, league and team assortments, and special pricing while integrating with a highly connected tech stack that included ERP, PIM, CRM, OMS, tax engines, and product customization software.
Solution
Rawlings chose Znode and Artifi to power its MyLocker360 experience, a unified B2B2C commerce ecosystem. Znode’s multi-store architecture enables Rawlings to launch and manage team stores at scale, delivering tailored storefronts for coaches, parents, and players. The platform supports unlimited unique catalogs, pricing, and personalization options based on user roles, while Artifi provides real-time product customization and artwork approval workflows.
Administrators maintain centralized control over catalogs, artwork, and store performance, while coaches can configure stores, assign rosters, and enforce required purchases. Parents and athletes benefit from an intuitive, mobile-friendly experience that simplifies shopping for personalized uniforms and gear across multiple teams.
Znode integrates with Deck Commerce OMS, Salesforce Marketing, Vertex Tax, JDE E1 via Jitterbit Middleware for custom order configurations, and Salsify PIM. Znode orchestrates information from these systems to ensure accurate pricing, consistent product data, and streamlined fulfillment, while providing administrators with full control over catalog management, roles, and permissions.
Utilizing Znode’s multi-store capability, Rawlings launched a dealer portal on Znode and integrated Artifi for product customization. This portal automated order entry, reducing product customization and order errors between dealers and the company.
This approach enables Rawlings to deliver a smooth, user-friendly experience for coaches, players, and parents while supporting the company’s growth.
Customer Testimonial
“Both Znode and Artifi teams were true strategic partners throughout the MyLocker360 initiative. They demonstrated a deep understanding of both the technical complexity and the business realities of a B2B2C commerce environment. Their ability to translate complex requirements into scalable, user-friendly solutions allowed us to streamline personalization workflows, integrate seamlessly with our systems, and deliver a best-in-class experience for teams, coaches, and their fans. The collaboration was efficient, transparent, and results-driven, enabling us to move faster while maintaining the flexibility to scale for future growth.”
- Danielle Arnold, Digital Product Manager, Direct to Team at Rawlings Sporting Goods