JD Sports banner AI-equips assortment planning
A fashion chain operated by JD Sports is making its assortment planning processes more data-driven, automated and agile.
JD Sports Fashion, a banner of global British athletic retailer JD Sports which operates online and more than 970 stores in the U.K. and across Europe, is scaling assortment planning best practices and efficiencies across its enterprise.
With a focus on planned future expansion, the retailer is deploying artificial intelligence-based supply chain technology from o9 in an effort to transform its assortment planning operation.
"In today’s ever-changing business environment, building an agile customer offering tailored to local needs, that is delivered with speed and efficiency, is critical to keeping a competitive edge," said Wim van Aalst, chief supply chain officer, JD Sports Fashion. "As we continue growing our business, we look forward to partnering with o9 as they understand our business model and our unique requirements to enhance our assortment planning capabilities."
The retailer will deploy the o9 platform across the JD Sports Fashion, Size?, and HIP brands with the goals of optimizing inventory assortment, reducing markdowns, and maximizing store profitability.
“As retailers continue to seek ways to build greater resiliency to mitigate potential risks and pursue emerging opportunities, we’re pleased to work with JD Sports Fashion to provide planning solutions that further enhance agility as the company continues to expand its global footprint," said Chakri Gottemukkala, o9 co-founder and CEO.
JD Sports banners transform supply chain
Other global subsidiaries of JD Sports are also leveraging cloud and AI solutions to streamline their supply chains. DTLR, a youth-oriented activewear retailer, and Shoe Palace, a footwear and apparel chain, are deploying the Jumpmind Commerce and Inventory solutions on Adyen Castle S1E2L Android “all-in-one” devices across a combined 450 store locations nationwide.
[READ MORE: JD Sports banners mobile-enable POS and 'endless aisle' inventory]
JD Sports is organizing its retail technology around composable architecture – a cloud-based collection of integrated, best-of-breed solutions designed to promote agility, innovation and flexibility.
The two banners will leverage Jumpmind Commerce to support mobile POS and Jumpmind Inventory to engage seamlessly with customers throughout the store and provide “endless aisle” customer fulfillment through seamless integration with existing order management systems.
The Canadian division of JDSports has also deployed a variety of cloud-based enterprise solutions. JD Sports Canada implemented the mobile-enabled, cloud-based Retail Management Suite from Jesta I.S.
Capabilities JD Sports Canada enabled with the enterprise platform include endless aisle assortment that optimizes fulfillment from a warehouse, store, marketplace or vendor.
The retailer also enhances product master, forecasting, planning, allocation and replenishment functions, and an intelligent order orchestration system with real-time inventory and order visibility communicates with order capture and fulfillment about changes pre/post shipment.
In addition, JD Sports Canada uses an intelligent order management system to strategically route cross-channel orders according to pre-defined enterprise rules and optimal supply source.
Established in 1981 in England, JD Sports is a multichannel retailer of branded sports and casual wear with over 3,000 stores in 32 territories worldwide.
