In our latest research at Digivante, we’ve compared 2 of the largest sports brand websites: Sports Direct and JD Sports. We take a deeper look at their company profiles and conduct some site analysis based on one product which is sold on both sites. The website wars winner is the sports brand website that perform best when conducting our UX analysis.

1. WEBSITE WARS
SPORTS BRANDS
October 2020

2. 22
THE FINAL SPRINT
This year the ecommerce
world is taking no
survivors, as brands
which fail to develop their
digital presence fall into
bankruptcy and eventual
closure. But how exactly
does digital performance
affect your brands
success?
“Our single most important store in the world is our
dot-com store, there is no comparison”
Kasper Rørsted, CEO of Adidas

3. CASE STUDIES

4. 44
SPORTS DIRECT
Revenue and Growth over
a three year period:
2017
Revenue: £3.25B
Growth: +9.21%
2018
Revenue: £3.36B
Growth: -8.22%
2019 (F1)
Revenue: 3.70B
Growth: +10%

5. 55
JD SPORTS
2017
Revenue: £2.38B
Growth: +31%
2018
Revenue: £3.16B
Growth: +33%
2019 (F1)
Revenue: £4.71B
Growth: +49%
Revenue and Growth over
a three year period:

6. WHY IS SPORTS DIRECT
EXPERIENCING A LACK OF
GROWTH COMPARED TO
JD SPORTS?

7. 77
WEBSITE WARS 2018
In 2018 we conducted an in-depth analysis of
both retailers, examining the sites for defects
which would prevent (critical) purchases or
provide an annoyance (conversion).
Comparing the two brands together, Sports
Direct had a high amount of critical defects
whereas JD Sports was average.

8. DIGGING DEEPER:
COMPANY PROFILES

9. 99
SPORTS DIRECT
1982 - Business founded by Mike Ashley in Maidenhead
1996 - Rebranded ‘Sports Soccer’ and acquired Donnay
2002 - Acquired ‘Lillywhites’ stores and Lonsdale brand
2004 - Acquired Dunlop, Slazenger,Carlton, Karrimor
2007 - Listed on London Stock Exchange
2009 - Established UK market leadership with sales exceeding £1.0bn
2019 - Acquired Game and Jack Wills, and company name changed to Frasers Group plc
Sports Direct previously beat competitors such as Allsports and JJB through discounted products
However,YouGov’s BrandIndex places Sports Direct within the bottom 5 retailers for quality, reputation and
impression

10. 1010
JD SPORTS
1981 - JD Sports began with its first store in Bury, Greater Manchester
1989 -Then opened their first store on Oxford Street, London
1996 - JD Sports Fashion Plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange
2005 - 57.5% of JD Sports Fashion Plc was bought by the Pentland Group
2009 - Acquired Chausport, a French sports retailer; the Group's first international presence & entry into
Europe
2010 - Opened its first JD in Lille, France; their first store in Europe
2019 - Promoted to the FTSE100 list of largest businesses in the UK
2020 -The JD Group now has over 2,440 stores in 19 territories, including over 770 JD Sports stores
JD Sports rose to fame through ‘athleisure’, celebrity endorsement and exclusive products
They are the UK’s 30th most popular fashion & clothing brand, and the 13th most famous

11. DIGGING DEEPER:
SITE ANALYSIS

12. 1212
SITE ANALYSIS
- Same product shown
- Clear model/presentation
difference
- Price difference
- Branded colour pallet
difference
User Opinion –
Sports Direct’s site appears
dated and too simplistic

13. UX ANALYSIS

14. 1414
SPORTS DIRECT
Add to wish list clarifies
additional action will be
needed.
Rewording would result in a
higher conversion rate.

15. 1515
SPORTS DIRECT
Limited viewing options
However, using a model
enhances the real world
appearance

16. 1616
SPORTS DIRECT
Sale banner and text
highlighted red (good for
accessibility)

17. 1717
JD SPORTS
3 different ways to choose
or find the correct sizing for
you

18. 1818
JD SPORTS
Varying viewing options,
including zoom, close ups
and different angles of the
product

19. 1919
JD SPORTS
Reinforced quality through
Google customer reviews

20. 2020
JD SPORTS
Section focusing on
delivery & payment
options, including
integration with Klarna,
Clearpay, Laybuy and
Openpay close to the add
to basket option

21. WEBSITE WARS
WINNER

22. 2222
Overall improvements should
include:
Inclusion of accessibility for colour
blindness - specifically the add to
basket CTA, which would be more
accessible if it had a border around it
JD Sports clearly has a higher UX through natural or intuitive inclusions of added
functionalities. Including: alternative payment options, reviews, additional
viewings, various size guides and delivery options, with a continuous timer to
emphasise urgency.
Sports Direct lacks many functionalities to encourage users to convert or emphasise
quality on their site. Including: alternative payment and delivery options and
personalisation factors.
WEBSITE WARS WINNER