JD Sports brings AI checkout to UK shoppers this year
Key Points
- JD Sports will re-platform its UK website in 2026, enabling AI checkout via Copilot, Gemini and ChatGPT
- US customers can already buy JD products inside Microsoft Copilot using commercetools and Stripe technology
- UK organic sales fell 2.5% in FY26, with the UK now 25% of group sales versus 28% a year earlier
- JD STATUS loyalty members in UK and Europe spend 25% more than non-members
- AI adoption is one of five FY27 strategic priorities alongside store, product and personalisation work
JD Sports will re-platform its UK website later this year, paving the way for the AI checkout already rolling out for US customers through Microsoft Copilot, with Google Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to follow.
The Manchester-based retailer confirmed the UK timeline in its full-year results published on Thursday (7 May), which reported group sales of £12.66 billion for the 52 weeks to 31 January 2026, up 10.5% at reported rates.
UK organic sales fell 2.5% over the same period, with like-for-like sales down 3.9%, the weakest performance across JD’s four regions. The UK now accounts for 25% of group sales, down from 28% a year earlier.
How the AI checkout works
JD switched on agentic commerce for US customers in January 2026 through a partnership with commercetools and Stripe.
Shoppers using Microsoft’s Copilot can search for JD footwear, apparel and accessories, and complete purchases inside the AI platform without visiting JD.com.
Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Suite handles payment and fraud checks, and JD remains the merchant of record for tax and refunds. Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be added to the US rollout in stages.
The UK launch depends on two moving parts. JD is migrating its UK and rest-of-Europe websites onto the same commercetools platform later in FY27, having completed North America, South-East Asia and Italy in FY26.
The AI checkout itself also requires the LLM platforms to enable shopping features in the UK, with Microsoft, Google and OpenAI currently focused on the US market.
What it means for UK shoppers
UK shoppers will see the change in stages rather than as a single switch-on. The most immediate gain will be a faster, re-platformed JD.co.uk, with improvements in search, page speed and campaign tagging similar to those reported by US users since their migration earlier in 2026.
Once the US AI checkout extends internationally, UK customers will be able to ask Copilot for JD trainers and complete the purchase inside the chat window, without leaving the app.
The technology will also feed into JD’s loyalty programme. JD STATUS now has 3.7 million active members across the UK and Europe, generating roughly a third of regional sales and spending 25% more than non-members, according to today’s results.
CEO Régis Schultz said the group is treating AI as one of five FY27 strategic priorities, alongside product range, store productivity, e-commerce and customer personalisation.
More AI stores coming
JD is not the first UK retailer to commit to agentic commerce.
Frasers Group became the first European retailer to deploy a commercetools agentic suite in October 2025, covering ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Google has separately partnered with Walmart, Shopify and Wayfair to add instant checkout to Gemini, and OpenAI is building shopping research into ChatGPT.
Gartner now forecasts that traditional search engine volume will fall 25% by 2026 as users shift to AI assistants.
The UK launch will arrive against a tough trading backdrop. JD reported pre-tax profit down 12% to £629 million and guided FY27 profit before tax and adjusting items to a wide range of £750 million to £850 million, citing muted market growth and footwear product cycle headwinds.
Schultz said the group will focus on “controlling the controllables” with continued price investments, cost efficiency and a 20% dividend increase to 1.20p, alongside a rolling £200 million annual share buyback that started on 23 February.
