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JJB Sports to augment online offerings

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 14:03 by Mike Price

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JJB Sports is still one of the UK's best known high street sporting outlets, but it is now looking to the world of safe shopping online, to shore up its business over the coming years.

It is reported that the company has recently come to an agreement worth around £30 million, which will result in an allegiance between it and a number of American investors, in order to overhaul its e-commerce services.

JJB Sports is apparently going to become a fully fledged multichannel retailer which is not entirely reliant on its bricks and mortar sales to stay afloat.

Last year, it experienced a 21.7 per cent decline in annual sales, topping just over £284 million over the course of 2011. CEO, Keith Jones, is looking to curb this dramatic decline by focusing on a shift to safe shopping online, which he and the investors believe will help to revive the fortunes of JJB Sports.

Mr Jones said that he was well aware of the uphill climb that was being faced by the retailer, but said that putting an emphasis on improving the e-commerce side of the business would make it much easier for JJB Sports to survive.

Much of the investment is being provided by Dick's Sporting Goods, a US retail chain which is chaired by Edward Stack.

Mr Stack spoke out about the potential that JJB Sports has to become successful in both the UK and European markets. He was also keen to emphasise the multichannel approach which will be taken and to which e-commerce will become fundamentally important.

A number of UK retailers have been hauled back from the brink of collapse by outside investors in recent weeks and if this helps to boost the online economy, then consumers will no doubt be the beneficiaries.