Intersport Improves Site Performance & Protects Its Data With DataDome

The Problem: Bot Traffic Slows Down the Site & Skews Analytics

Michael Alimi, Director of Organization and Information Systems, joined Intersport in 2017. The brand, which is built on an extensive brick and mortar presence and a solid cooperative culture, was then in the midst of a digital explosion.

“This digital explosion also meant greater exposure to the internet and to bot attacks,” Michael notes.

His team knew that their website—like any e-commerce site—was targeted by bot attacks, but they didn’t have the reliable metrics they needed to quantify the attacks and assess potential negative impacts.

“If 30-40% of your traffic is bad bots, it disrupts your analytics and shopping cart calculations,” Michael notes.

Furthermore, spikes in bot traffic were causing unpredictable slowdowns, and overuse of infrastructure resources was a constant concern.

The Solution: WAF + Bot Protection

To protect the site and user data, Michael and his technical team rely on WAF solutions.

“The WAF handles massive or repeated attacks very well. On the network side, it helps us a lot,” says Michael. “But it’s not designed for application protection. Whenever we needed to mitigate an attack, it could be very time-consuming.”

Michael and his e-commerce counterpart met DataDome. Impressed with the presentation, they quickly decided to put the solution to the test.

“We had to protect ourselves on the application side, and our initial discussions with DataDome were convincing,” Michael comments.

The one-month free trial was a success. The DataDome dashboard revealed very high levels of scraping activity, credential stuffing attempts, plus a series of mini-attacks that appeared to be coming from someone testing Intersport’s system. The team decided to activate the protection.

The Results: Increased Security Levels, Decreased Mental Load

The DataDome solution now analyzes every incoming request to Intersport’s website, and determines in real time whether the request comes from a bad bot. If it does, it’s blocked.

For Michael, the main benefit is not having to worry about bot attacks anymore.

“Knowing that we have an active, pro-active protection against bots really reduces our mental load,” he testifies. “When you don’t have a clear picture of what’s going on, it’s difficult to truly have peace of mind.”

The elimination of intensive scraping activity also translates to a more stable performance and a faster website. All of Intersport’s infrastructure resources are now dedicated to human users and good bots.

“Implementing DataDome was motivated by security concerns, but the solution also provides valuable insights into our traffic,” says Michael. “The dashboard is very useful for reporting; the numbers I’m interested in are prominent. This also means that our business data, such as conversion rates, are more reliable.”

As for the daily use of the solution, the team particularly appreciates the “custom rules” function, a feature that allows DataDome users to easily fine-tune the protection themselves if they want.

“We can easily manage access for our partners,” says Michael. “Thanks to the custom rules, we can block or authorize an IP or URL quickly and easily. We really appreciate this flexibility.”