JD Sports shopfront. Credit: William Barton, Shutterstock.
JD Sports Fashion plc has announced plans to let customers buy products directly through artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, starting in the United States in the coming months, according to a statement published by the retailer on January 12.
The UK-based retailer said shoppers will be able to search for and purchase footwear, clothing and accessories in a single click without leaving AI apps, marking a significant shift in how online retail transactions are carried out.
JD partners with commercetools and Stripe
The initiative follows a global agreement between JD Sports Fashion plc, commercetools, and Stripe. The deal will see JD become the first retailer to use commercetools’ Agentic Commerce Suite, which links AI-driven product searches directly to secure checkout and payment systems.
The rollout will begin with Microsoft Copilot, before extending to other large language models including Google Gemini and ChatGPT, as those platforms enable direct purchasing features.
JD said the US was selected as the launch market because it is the group’s largest, accounting for around 40 per cent of global sales.
Retailers respond to AI-driven shopping habits
JD’s chief technology officer Jetan Chowk said, “We’ve seen that customers want to be able to shop though different channels and it’s important that we meet them where they are. Today’s announcement is an important step into the next era of online shopping and positions JD to be ahead of the curve as the global retail industry embraces AI.”
Research shows rapid uptake among younger consumers, with consultancy KPMG finding that 30 per cent of people aged 25 to 34 used an AI-enabled chatbot to look for online deals in the past year.
JD said it will also invest in optimising how its products appear within AI platforms, ensuring accurate pricing, stock availability and secure, real-time checkout.
For expats living in the US, the move points to faster and more seamless online shopping through familiar AI apps. JD has indicated the technology could later be extended to the UK and Europe, potentially reshaping how major retailers reach expat consumers as AI-driven commerce expands.
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