Britain's JD Sports launches AI shopping for US customers
LONDON/NEW YORK, Jan 12 : British sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion's customers in the United States, its largest market, will be able to use AI platforms to search for and purchase its products, the company said on Monday.
The group trades from more than 2,500 stores across the JD, DTLR, Shoe Palace and Hibbett brands and online in the U.S., accounting for more than 40 per cent of its global sales.
Starting with Microsoft's Copilot and later extending to Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT, U.S. customers will be able to find and buy sports footwear, apparel and accessories from JD Sports using the AI platforms.
JD Sports said it has partnered digital commerce platform provider commercetools and financial infrastructure company Stripe to provide the service that connects AI-driven searches to secure checkout and payments.
Retailers including Walmart and Etsy are also working with tech companies to develop AI tools that allow shoppers to go from discovery within an AI chatbot to purchase without using the retailer's website or app.
Walmart announced on Sunday that it was working with Google's Gemini to allow customers to buy products from certain businesses without leaving Gemini's AI chat interface.
AI is reinventing the connection between the consumer and retailer, JD Sports CEO Regis Schultz said on the sidelines of a conference in New York.
"25 years ago it was the internet. Today's AI, it's a new way to interact. So it's not about business, it's about interaction with the consumer and how we create the best service," Schultz said.
Giving shoppers the ability to buy straight from an AI chatbot helps them to skip the line at cash desks that occupy 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the space in JD Sports stores, Schultz said, adding that those spaces could be repurposed to stock more product instead.
The company is scheduled to issue a trading update for the Christmas quarter on January 21.
In November, JD Sports forecast annual profit at the lower end of market expectations, saying it was mindful of weak economic and consumer indicators in its key countries.
JD Sports shares closed 1 per cent down on the London Stock Exchange, reversing gains made earlier in the session.
