JD Sports is expanding its delivery efforts in North America with a new initiative.
According to the U.K.-based sports fashion retailer, it has teamed up with Instacart on a new partnership to launch same-day delivery from more than 500 JD Sports and Finish Line stores via the Instacart App and website. For all orders, an Instacart shopper will pick and deliver the order within the customer’s chosen delivery time frame, the company said.
This move marks one of the first sports-fashion retail partners to leverage Instacart’s technologies, giving customers access to same-day delivery for more than 16,000 products, including athletic footwear and apparel brands like Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Puma and more, delivered in as fast an hour.
Kristin Matter, VP of digital at JD Sports, said in a statement that this new partnership “further transforms” the way its customers shop with the retailer. “With this partnership, we are taking our omnichannel strategy to new heights, providing customers with an unparalleled shopping experience, focused on convenience,” Matter said. “This collaboration signifies our commitment to meeting the evolving needs of our valued customers, ensuring they can enjoy a seamless and efficient shopping experience.”
This news comes after JD executives admitted at its annual general meeting with shareholders in June that there has been some softening in its business in the North American market.
The athletic retailer said at the meeting that the softening was “consistent” with other businesses in the sector and that inventories are at “normal levels” in the region. JD also maintained to shareholders that the company will not implement an aggressive promotional strategy in the region and will opt to remain competitive.
Despite the slowdown in business in the U.S., overall, JD Sports remained optimistic about its business in the region at the time and reiterated its forecasts for pretax profit of about 1.04 billion pounds ($1.33 billion, based on current exchange) this fiscal year.
In September, the company released its interim results for the first half of fiscal 2023. According to CEO Régis Schultz, the company delivered a strong first half with organic sales growth of 12 percent and profit on track for the full year.
“In line with our strategic plan, growth is being driven by our premium Sports Fashion business with an impressive performance in Europe (+27 percent) and North America (+15 percent), supported by a strong performance in our more mature U.K. market (+8 percent),” Schultz said. “This performance continued in the important back to school period.”
Schultz also noted in September that there was a return to “good momentum” in its North America business, where the company had converted 16 Finish Line stores and opened 14 new JD stores across the U.S. and Canada. New locations for the JD brand included the Aventura mall near Miami (the third largest in the U.S.), and the Mall at Prince George’s, near Washington, D.C.
The company expects to convert a further 15 to 20 Finish Line stores to JD in the second half of the year.
