JD Sports sprints ahead with Fluent Order Management

By using Fluent Order Management, JD Sports was able to streamline global fulfilment, adapt to market challenges, and enhance customer satisfaction across its global operations.

The COVID pandemic taught retailers that being able to adapt and respond to market challenges is crucial to remain competitive.

JD Sports used Fluent Order Management to sell multiple brands across multiple channels globally, responding to a changing trading environment at unprecedented speed.

A global game changer in sports retail

Since opening its doors in 1981, JD Sports has established itself as one of the largest omnichannel sports retailers worldwide. It now has over 2,600 stores across 19 countries and over £6.1B in revenue.

As a growing and complex multi-brand business, JD Sports identified the need for an innovative solution to help manage its complex operations, including global inventory management and order fulfilment.

In 2017, JD Sports chose Fluent Order Management, which gave them the ability to carry out cross-region fulfilment and cross-brand merchandising. The company also gained the ability to share inventory and fulfilment capabilities globally, significantly enhancing customer convenience and experience.

“We have a market-leading multichannel proposition that continues to enhance its relevance to consumers and has the necessary agility to progress in an environment where the retailing of international brands may see permanent global structural change,” said Peter Cowgill, Executive Chairman of JD Sports.

Ready to respond to disruption

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, JD Sports was forced to close dozens of stores globally. The retailer leveraged the built-in agility of Fluent Order Management to respond.

Ship from Store was introduced in just two weeks. This converted physical stores into dark stores that shipped goods directly to customers. As a result, stock was released from stores instead of sitting on shelves.

Click & Collect services were rapidly adjusted. By leveraging Fluent Order Management, the retailer was able to activate or deactivate this service for individual locations within minutes, responding to changing circumstances and customer demands.

With a large increase in e-commerce sales, JD Sports experienced a rise in returns for online orders. Using Fluent Order Management to digitise in-store and online returns, customers could initiate returns online without the need for a printer.

Moreover, JD Sports capitalised on the opportunity for cross-brand merchandising by sharing inventory across all brands, enabling them to update their fulfilment logic to support cross-brand sales in just a few weeks.

Leading the charge for future growth

Looking ahead, JD Sports is poised for continued growth, armed with a template-driven approach that allows for rapid rollouts of new brands and regions within just five weeks. The adaptability of Fluent Order Management ensures that JD Sports can refine its fulfilment strategies to meet evolving market demands, securing its place as a global leader in sports retail.

"By using rapidly scalable and cloud-native technology from Fluent Commerce, we were able to maintain customer loyalty and secure customer value during a challenging time. We now have a scalable system which will support our growth and the flexibility to respond to the next curve ball, wherever it may come from next," said Dan Finley, Group Multi-Channel Director of JD Sports.

Through partnering with Fluent Commerce, JD Sports exemplifies how agile and innovative technology can transform retail operations and enhance customer loyalty. Download the full case study here.