How U.S. Figure Skating runs a store for many audiences at once

The Edge, the official U.S. Figure Skating store, is organised around collections rather than a single product list. Programmes, events, audiences and causes each get their own collection — Coaches, Officials, Aspire, Learn To Skate USA, Proud Parents, Blade Angels — while the underlying catalog and fulfilment stay shared.

The challenge: one store, many audiences

A national governing body doesn't have a customer — it has constituencies. Competitive skaters, coaches, officials, collegiate and high school programmes, adult skaters, learn-to-skate families and proud parents all want something different from the same brand.

Put all of that in one flat product grid and every group has to scroll past nine ranges that aren't for them. Most give up.

Collections do the sorting

Alongside the collections sits a plain Product Types menu — tops, bottoms, crewnecks, hoodies, drinkware, car magnets, youth — for people who shop by item instead of by identity. Both routes reach the same catalog.

Programme collections: Adult Skating, Aspire, Learn To Skate USA, Excel, Collegiate Skating, High School Programs, Theater On Ice
Role collections: Coaches, Officials
Family and fan collections: Proud Mom, Proud Dad, Proud Parents, USA Stars and Blades, USA Toepick
Event and season collections: Styling 2027, The Runthrough 2027, the NQS Series, National Showcase
A cause collection, Blade Angels, where the majority of every purchase goes directly to the athletes it supports

Seasonal ranges without rebuilding the store

Because collections are just groupings, a season-specific range can appear when the competitive calendar calls for it and retire quietly afterwards. That's what makes drops like Styling 2027 or an NQS Series range practical rather than a project.

The store also ties into audience building: a fan newsletter sign-up offers a free shipping code, so merchandise feeds the mailing list rather than sitting apart from it.

Read the full write-up on our case studies page: swagshops.com/case-studies/us-figure-skating-fan-store

What to take from it

Name collections after how people describe themselves, not after your internal departments.
Always offer a second, plain product-type route for shoppers who don't self-identify.
Treat event ranges as temporary collections rather than permanent catalog additions.
If part of a purchase supports athletes or a cause, say so on the collection itself.

FAQ

How many collections is too many?

There's no fixed limit — what matters is that each one maps to a group that would actually describe itself that way. If nobody self-identifies with a collection, it's a filter, not a collection.

Can a member organisation run cause-based merchandise?

Yes, and it works well when the destination of the money is stated plainly on the collection page so buyers know what their purchase supports.