1

JD Sports

Course Code: Name of Course

Professor’s Name

Institution Affiliation

The City and State

Due Date
 2

JD Sports

Part A: Analysis of JD Sports’ Online Presence and E-Marketing Activities

1.0 Introduction to JD Sports

JD Sports is a sports-fashion retail firm based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England.

The company was started by John Wardle and David Makin in 1983, getting its name

from the initial of the owners, JD (Jorgenson et al., 2023). For over four decades, JD

Sports has established itself as the leading specialist retailer of stylish casual, branded

and sportswear. By 1996, JD Sports had expanded from one retail in Bury to opening

56 stores across the United Kingdom. The company continued to expand across the

European Union, and by 2011, it had opened shops in the Netherlands, France, Spain,

Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany (Jorgenson et al., 2023). The company

became known for making the best and most fashionable sportswear and its

innovative marketing techniques. In 2016 the company entered the Asian market and

has since opened stores in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Australia, South Korea,

Singapore and Thailand (Jorgenson et al., 2023).

The success of JD Sports can also be attributed to its innovative online presence and

e-marketing activities. The following is an analysis of the company’s online presence

and e-marketing activities;

1.1 Competitor Analysis

The main competitors of JD Sports include Academy Sports + Outdoors, Foot Locker

and Frasers Group plc. Academy Sports + Outdoors is the leading sporting goods,

lifestyle and outdoor store chain in the United States of America. The company has

over 600 stores spread across more than 30 stores nationwide, with goods for both

men and women (Jorgenson et al., 2023). Even though Academy Sports + Outdoors
 3

mainly focuses on sporting goods, it generates an annual revenue of approximately

$1.9 billion.

Besides the discount store chain, Academy Sports + Outdoors has an e-commerce

website where clients can shop for their products (Jorgenson et al., 2023). The

company is moving from traditional advertisement methods and selling its products

through broadcast and print media to digital ads. The company is using different

social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Foot Locker is another major competitor of JD Sports, based in New York City,

United States of America. Foot Locker was founded in 1974 and mainly retails

athletic sportswear and footwear (Riley & Tripp, 2020). The company has a

worldwide presence with more than 3,000 stores around the world. Unlike JD Sports,

Foot Locker only focuses on retail and does not manufacture products. The company

has two business segments stores and direct-to-Customers. The athletic stores lead in

net sales, grossing about $5.4 billion in revenue (Riley & Tripp, 2020).

Foot Locker is now looking forward to increasing its revenue by focusing on digital

sales. Digital sales currently account for approximately 17% of the total orders made;

this is lower than all the other competitors. The company now plans to increase their

digital orders by 25% (Riley & Tripp, 2020). While digital sales lag, the company's

statistics show that more than 95% of its customers engage with the company online,

primarily through social media. The company is now realizing the importance of

growing its digital presence. Online customers have seen to purchase more than

people visiting the physical stores.

Another close competitor of JD Sports is Frasers Group plc. Frasers Group plc is a

British retail company that deals in sportswear and intellectual property, established in

1982 (Jorgenson et al., 2023). The company is well known for conducting business
 4

under Sports Direct International. It is the largest sports-goods retailer in the UK,

operating both online and physical stores.

Previously, Frasers Group plc mainly concentrated on physical stores to sell their

products. They have also focused on traditional advertisement methods while

maintaining a low online presence (Jorgenson et al., 2023). However, the company

has also grown its online presence by acquiring an online retailer, I Saw It First. The

company intends to integrate the online retailer with approximately 5 million

consumers. This aims to increase the company's online presence and revenue.

JD Sports has a higher competitive advantage compared to Academy Sports +

Outdoors, Foot Locker and Frasers Group plc, mainly due to its elaborate online

presence and e-marketing activities (Weitzman et al., 2023). Online marketing and e-

marketing activities have been vital in driving the growth and development of the

company. The company utilizes an integrated marketing communications strategy to

advertise its products. This strategy involves the use of traditional methods of

advertisement like print and television and new methods such as influencer

relationships, email and social media.

Through its Integrated Marketing Communications advertising approach, the

company has a strong online presence and a wide range of e-marketing activities.

JD Sports uses clear and consistent messages to advertise its products across all social

media (Weitzman et al., 2023). The company uses eye-catching pictures and

memorable catchphrases to compose their marketing messages. JD Sports also uses

celebrities and influencers to attract the younger demographic and offer tailored

services.

The company has a strong online presence as millions of people follow and engage

with them through different online means. JD Sports regularly uses Twitter and
 5

Facebook to engage with their customers (Weitzman et al., 2023). Additionally, the

company has a user-friendly website with detailed product descriptions making online

shopping very convenient. Lastly, the company has also implemented the use of

analytic software to monitor their online interactions with customers. This is helping

the company to discover better ways of serving their clients.

1.2 JD Sports Social Media Involvement and Analysis

JD Sports has a strong social media presence, especially on YouTube, Facebook and

Twitter. The company's Facebook page has 3.8 million followers, while the Twitter

account has 195, 800 followers (Haudi et al., 2022). The company has posted 148

videos on YouTube that have gained 587,350 views.

The company mainly engages its customers using Twitter, which posts an average of

14 daily tweets. JD Sports also uses the platform to engage with its customers

directly. The contents posted on the Twitter page mainly focus on promoting the

products and services the company offers (Haudi et al., 2022). JD Sports also uses

discounts and competitions on the Twitter page, offering their customers a chance to

win official merchandise and other prizes. The company also operates a Twitter page

to post sporting events and engage with its customers in the comments.

Apart from Twitter, the company also uses their Facebook page to promote their

products and to interact with their customers. Many of their Facebook posts involve

images of celebrities and influencers wearing a wide range of JD Sports products

currently available in the stores. The Facebook page also contains promotional

updates and competitions that are used to offer discounts and other prizes.

JD Sports also uses YouTube to advertise their products using different promotional

videos. The company also engages with its customers on YouTube using different

competitions.
 6

JD Sports has a huge online presence as one of the leading specialist retailers of

stylish casual, branded and sportswear (Naraine, Pegoraro & Wear, 2021). The

company has firmly established its presence on social media, especially on YouTube,

Facebook and Twitter. JD Sports has strong brand awareness and interactions with its

customers on social media. The company has a very active fan base on social media,

as demonstrated through large quantities of comments and mentions on Facebook and

Twitter. JD Sports uses a well-targeted message to promote its products online. It also

utilizes its strong brand position to attract customers and encourage online

interactions (Naraine, Pegoraro & Wear, 2021). However, the company needs to use

their online presence to their advantage as they do not respond to a majority of its

customer's comments on its social media platforms. The company also prevents

customers from commenting on their posts by not allowing fans to discuss new topics.

Lastly, JD Sports can benefit more by increasing its brand awareness on YouTube,

Facebook and Twitter.

1.3 JD Sports Online Customer Experience and Engagement

One of the main goals of JD Sports is to consistently meet the expectations of its

customers by strictly following the company’s customer service policy. The policy

used by the company expects their staff first to greet their customer and listen keenly

to their various needs. This makes their customers always feel warm and appreciated

by the company. Greeting customers also makes them comfortable and free to talk to

the staff whenever they need help (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). All the online staff

members are required to listen to their customers well to offer them the best services.

JD Sports also ensures that they meet the needs of their customers by providing

different alternatives for customers when they need help getting what they were

looking for initially. The company also ensures that its customers are satisfied by
 7

using other techniques (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). One method commonly used by the

online staff is to ask the clients whether they are met constantly. This is done when

the customers have finished shopping.

The company also actively engages its customers through social media platforms,

especially YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The customers are involved by answering

questions and comments. JD Sports also engages with its customers through different

competitions that are held on social media. The winners of these competitions are

given discounts on products and other prizes.

Despite using different strategies and efforts to engage with its customers, the

company continues receiving negative remarks concerning its general customer

experience. The company is ranked among the worst in its online customer service

and engagement. Some customers complain about losing track of their products and

needing swift help from online customer service (Stein & Ramaseshan 2016).

Therefore, some customers need more trust in the online customer services that JD

Sports provides. Some clients have also cussed the company for not addressing their

complaints by deleting their comments and posts on their social media platforms.

Some clients also need help with slow online customer service team responses.

Therefore, JD Sports must enhance its online customer service and engagement to

ensure maximum customer satisfaction. This will enable the company to maintain its

strong competitive advantage, thus increasing its revenue.

 8

Reference

Haudi, H., Rahadjeng, E., Santamoko, R., Putra, R., Purwoko, D., Nurjannah, D.,

Koho, I., Wijoyo, H., Siagian, A., Cahyono, Y. and Purwanto, A., 2022.

The role of e-marketing and e-CRM on e-loyalty of Indonesian companies

during Covid pandemic and digital era. Uncertain Supply Chain

Management, 10(1), pp.217-224.

Jorgenson, D.W., Weitzman, M.L., ZXhang, Y.X., Haxo, Y.M. and Mat, Y.X., 2023.

LON: JD. JD SPORTS FASHION PLC. AC Investment Research Journal,

220(44).

Jorgenson, D.W., Weitzman, M.L., ZXhang, Y.X., Haxo, Y.M. and Mat, Y.X., 2023.

LON: FRAS FRASERS GROUP PLC. AC Investment Research Journal,

220(44).

Lemon, K.N. and Verhoef, P.C., 2016. Understanding customer experience

throughout the customer journey. Journal of marketing, 80(6), pp.69-96.

Naraine, M.L., Pegoraro, A. and Wear, H., 2021. # WeTheNorth: Examining an

online brand community through a professional sport organization’s hashtag

marketing campaign. Communication & Sport, 9(4), pp.625-645.

Riley, M.E. and Tripp, M., 2020. Display of Information for Retail at Foot Locker,

Inc.

Stein, A. and Ramaseshan, B., 2016. Towards the identification of customer

experience touch point elements. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services,

30, pp.8-19.

Weitzman, M.L., Nakamoto, S., ZXhang, Y.X., Haxo, Y.M. and Mat, Y.X., 2023. JD

Sports Fashion: A Good Long-Term Investment, But Hold for Now. AC

Investment Research Journal, 220(44).

 9

Appendix

Appendix 1: Competitor Comparison

Foot Locker
JD Sports Frasers Group pl

Academy Sports +
Outdoors
Founding 1981 1938 1974 1982
date
Types Public Public Public Public
Tags The leading The leading The retail of sportswear Retail company that d
specialist sporting goods, in sportswear and
retailer of lifestyle and intellectual property
stylish outdoor store
casual, chain
branded and
sportswear.
Location Bury, GB Katy, US HQ United States of America United States of Amer
HQ
Employee 75,149 21,000 15,200 30,353
s
Valuation $9.9B $4.4B $8.8B $6.8B
Twitter 195.8 k 272.8 k 1.5M 193
followers
Facebook 289,365 3.8M 6.7M 2.8K
followers
Stores N/A 600 3,000 1,600

Appendix 2: SWOT Analysis of JD Sports

Strenght Weakness Opportunities Threats

 Reliable  Limited  Stable free  Intense
suppliers success outside cash flow to competition
 Automation of the main invest in  Limited skilled
activities business related product workforce
bringing  More segments  Facing
consistency to investment in  Lower lawsuits in
quality new inflation rate different
 Strong technologies  Decreasing markets
distribution needed cost of  Seasonal
network  Expansion in transportation demand of the
 10

 Strong Brand related product due to lower highly

Portfolio segments is shipping prices profitable
 Excellent limited due to  The market goods
Performance in organization development  Rising cost of
New Markets structure. will increase raw material
 Strong Free  Lack of proper its  Stiff
Cash Flow and effective competitivenes competition
 High customer financial s from local
satisfaction planning  The distributors
levels  Unsuccessful government  Counterfeit
in integrating green drive and low quality
firms with opens new product
different work opportunities
cultures  Opening up of
new markets
 Economic
uptick
 Increase in
customer
spending

Appendix 3: JD Sports Social Media Platform

Appendix 4: Comparison between JD Sports and Frasers Group plc.

 11

Appendix 5: JD Sports Discount and Marketing Campaigns

12