Merchandising report

In what ways does JD portray their sportswear as
fashion through their Visual Merchandising?

Contents

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
2.1. What is merchandising?
2.2. JDs visual merchandising
3. Aims of the Research and Objectives
3.1. Aims
3.2. Objectives
4. Literature Review
5. Methodology
5.1. Research Books
5.2. Other Resources
6. Results, Analysis and Interpretation
6.1. A pinpoint distinction between how sportswear is portrayed
as fashion
6.2. Ascertaining how important window displays are
merchandised to consumers
6.3. The advertising campaigns used to communicate companies
consumer base
6.4. The change in JDs graphics over the past 10 years and how
it has encouraged sales even further
6.5. Identifying how JD predicts trend changes and how their
buyers use this to strengthen each product over the years
6.6. The planning and merchandising of each department within
JD
7. Recommendations
8. Conclusions
9. Bibliography and referencing
10. Appendix 1
10.1. Interview with Leanne Rodgerson, Branch Manager
10.2. Interview with Lee Minchin, merchandiser/ﬂoor manager
11. Appendix 2
11.1. JD magazine
12. Appendix 3
12.1. Apparel merchandising training booklet
12.2. Footwear merchandising training booklet
12.3. Visual Merchandising Pack

Created by Amy Flitcroft -1-


Abstract
In this report I am discussing the distinction of JDs own brand
products and sportswear labels and the role in which their visual
merchandising plays through their advertising campaigns. I am going
to be explaining how important it is within the company and how their
sportswear is now portrayed as a fashion. I will be talking about how
JD has changed over the past 10 years, how it started out as a basic
sports store and then gravitated into more sports fashion styling. I am
also going to talk about how the graphics have changed, since moving
more into sports fashion branding. I will also be explaining how they
use different advertising campaigns to commercialise the store’s
products via their window displays, magazines and billboard
advertising. This report is about finding out how and why JD uses
merchandising to gain a great commercialism value for their company
and the products which they sell.

Introduction
I have chosen to research Visual merchandising as I have a
general interest in this subject and find it fascinating to see how stores
communicate their merchandise to their consumers. I have based my
interest with this subject on JD as I work within the store and have
access to VM packs and training resources, plus there are several
merchandisers which work within the store that I can ask about visual
merchandising.

Visual merchandising aims to show the various ways of placing
stock within a store and the influence that it has on how the shoppers
feel whilst instore. The purpose of Visual merchandising is to make the
consumers shopping experience a feeling of ease and comfort. Visual
merchandising has been around since the nineteenth century in some
form or other. To begin with, store owners would keep their stock in
the back and just bring out various items to show consumers when
they came in to the store. The next trend after this was for the store
owners to place their stock within the shop and add small written
advertisements in their shop windows displaying offers. In today’s
society, and for the past couple of decades, there has been a major job
market for this particular area in which people can specialise. The
main aim of visual merchandising is to create the most attractive
display in which to promote the goods that the store sells, and to
create the right image that a consumer can identify with.

What is Visual Merchandising?



“Visual merchandising is the physical display of
goods in the most attractive and appealing ways. The
goal of visual merchandising is to please customer
senses as shoppers enter and move around the
store. As opposed to advertising, visual
merchandising reaches customers when they are at
the store, resulting in immediate purchases.” M
Wolfe 2003, the world of fashion merchandising, the
Goodheart-Willcox Company, Inc, Tinley Park,
Illinois1

JDs Visual merchandising
Right from the beginning JD has developed its own way of
merchandising, setting its own layout development and standardising
its products. These things are what set them apart from other
retailers. Merchandising stock into a wall has to be set up correctly,
this is done by using planograms in order to design and plan a wall
prior to actual product placement. This method is used so that they
can enable visualisation on paper and the composition of the wall, as
well as making it consumer friendly.

The stock layout is important for JD as they have to make sure
the categories and genders are correct as well as their priority stock.
The company use these facilities in order to endorse consistency
throughout all stores. In the companies VM packs there is always a
layout to follow; this is mainly to do with merchandise packages and
any main priority changes to the stock on the wall.

Example:
Men’s Layout
Priority wall 1- McKenzie active- Nike Revolution – Nike comp –
Adidas ﬂeece
Wall 2 – Nike air>pants>suits
Centre stands – 2 for £20>t-shirts>replica>jackets>offer rails

Using the VM packs is to ensure that commerciality is used to place a
product in position on the wall which will maximise its sales.

The JD marketing team also have to work closely with the
companies brand designers and buyers to ensure that they are all
thinking on the same level, this is to guarantee that the advertising
campaigns and instore POS are functioning well with the new brands.
The merchandising department also have to communicate well with

1Direct quote from ‘The world of fashion merchandising’, chapter 22: Visual Merchandising
pg387



the buyers as they have to keep in mind what their aims were when
these products were purchased, this is so that packages and colour
pallets are kept together in the highest location point for the
consumers to see.

From my personal view, I see JDs merchandising as a means to
gain a higher influence on the store’s image as well as having a
greater understanding of their consumer base, and what they gain in
terms of the profits their products make. The company’s
merchandising team is one of the greatest and I believe that with new
trends thrown at them over the coming years, their merchandising will
expand to a greater mass proportion by providing a more significant
visualisation of their key selling products to consumers.

Aims of the Research and Objectives

Aims
The aim of my research will be to understand how visual
merchandising works within the JD stores and how it is important for a
major company to get it right in order to sell their brands. I also aim to
understand how the company have turned their views more to fashion
sportswear instead of just general sportswear. I have also been
intending to find out what JDs marketing strategies are, and who is
behind the planning of the store layouts and the visual merchandising
packs. I will be aiming to gain an understanding of how JD has
changed over the past 10 years and how they keep in touch with
trends for their region.

Objectives
My main objectives of this report were to understand how JDs
visual merchandising distinguishes between its fashion sportswear and
its general sportswear. I have used my own knowledge from working
at JD as well as gaining a great deal of knowledge from JDs floor/
merchandising manager and my own branch manager. From the
interview questions that I devised, I found out why their merchandising
is one of JDs main essential priorities to their company and how they
create a good visualisation of a product using just basic planograms.

o Ascertain how important visual merchandising is for
the company and why it is important for them to get
it right in order to sell their products.



o Discover a more understanding of how JD
communicates with its customers and how they sell
them a speciﬁc product.

o Seek out the importance of their use of advertising
campaigns and store window displays.

o Identify how the company plans each department
layout and how they come up with this planning, as
well as their campaigning and merchandising
decisions.

o Understand how JD has changed over the past 10
years and how they keep in touch with trends.

o To pinpoint a distinction between how their sports
brands are portrayed as fashion.

o Identify my own personal goals for this report which
were to expand on my own knowledge of visual
merchandising based on working at JD and by doing
this subject it could help me to gain better future
prospects.

Literature Review
While looking into visual merchandising I encountered a great
book by Judith Bell and Kate Ternus, Silent Selling: Best practices and
effective strategies in Visual Merchandising. This book has a great
understanding of merchandising and how it works for retailers. I
found this book to be the most interesting as a great deal of the
information has come from the authors own experience as a Visual
merchandiser. It has also given me a basic understanding of this
subject, which has added to my own thoughts and knowledge on
answering my own question on JDs visual merchandising. People need
simplicity, they do not react well to things that are unfamiliar and out
of the ordinary. To be seen as a visual merchandiser is to be seen as
the creative one, a person who thinks outside the box. A woman
named Sarah Marie implies that Visual Merchandisers create miniature
worlds within a retail store.

‘Visual Merchandisers create “miniature worlds” for
merchandise in an effort to attract the attention of
consumers, draw them into the store and keep them



coming back in the future.’ (Sarah Marie, Hubpages,
2009)2

This quote has influenced my research direction for JD as I
believe they have created a small world of casual sportswear fashion
which is slowly breaking into the huge market of general sportswear.
What I find to be the most interesting about JDs visual merchandising,
is the level in which you can appreciate the way clothing is laid out on
display, the colour pallets and how it encourages consumers to add on
to sales with the use of accessorising in outfits. I find the changing of
seasons and trends affects the way in which JDs creative
merchandising is displayed within those trends. For example
Christmas holidays, the store stick to a simple colour theme in which
to sparkle for the festive season. Most stores try to define their own
unique retail image to the consumers; this is so they can create a
feeling of relationships developing between them and the company.
JDs image is massive in terms of how the consumers see them, this is
due to instore promotional campaigns and effective advertising using
everyday objects they see through the day i.e. phone booths.

Bell and Ternus have used each of their own experiences with
working within a visual merchandising role by giving examples of what
a merchandiser does and how they create displays and different
layouts. Through the research it shows that merchandising has
emerged from concealing stock from the public to eventually
deliberately displaying goods in shop windows to entice consumers in
to their stores to see their latest offers. The internet provided an
article by Sarah Marie from the hubpages about the history of visual
merchandising which shows how it started and what it has developed
in to now. In her article, it states that many early shop owners cared
little about the presentation of their store as well as their
merchandise; they would keep stock in the back and only bring it out
once a consumer came in to the store. (Sarah Marie, 2009)

Further reading from other books all suggest that merchandising
has become a massive influence within retail and many larger stores
now have their own merchandising departments within the company
which deal with all the plans of visual merchandising, this department
also works alongside the marketing and buying departments. All
research has indicated that companies use merchandising to create an
image for themselves and to give the consumers familiarity with their
stock, the layout of the store as well as the stores image from use of
colours and advertisements.

2 Direct quote from hubpages.com by Sarah Marie and accessed 3rd December 09



Methodology
For my methodology I chose to do an interview with the main
store manager and the floor manager/ merchandiser of my JD store
about how their sportswear is portrayed as fashion through their
visual merchandising. I spoke to them about the way in which they
promote their products to their consumers and how they use
merchandising to create their image. I was also interested in asking
my managers about how their advertising campaigns heIp the store to
influence consumers in to buying their brands. The reason behind
choosing to do an interview is because I felt that it would be the
greatest way in which to gather the best information from the most
relevant sources, this is so that I could answer my question more
effectively. My managers answered all the questions relayed to them
with an immense knowledge of my chosen subject which has
supported my question a great deal.

The interviews I conducted helped my research by backing up the
information which has been gained through books and the internet.
The data gathered from my interviews has supported my question as I
went for the semi-structured approach so I had more flexibility when
asking the questions as well as gaining concise responses. I believe
that by doing a semi-structured interview I was able to intervene to
discuss more on the questions I believed to be the most relevant.

Research Books
In order to produce great interview questions I found a couple of
research books, one written by Judith Bell Doing your research project
and one written by Bill Gillham Research interviewing: the range of
techniques. These books were very insightful and they helped me a
great deal on choosing the correct choice of methodology to use. I
was also going to do a questionnaire but after reading through some
of Judith Bell’s book I believed that an interview would be a more
skilful and investigative way in which to get answers to help support
my question.

Judith Bell says “one major advantage of the
interview is its adaptability. A skilful interviewer can
follow up ideas, probe responses and investigate
motives and feelings, which the questionnaire can
never do.”3

3 Direct quote from ‘Doing your research project’, chapter 9: planning and conducting
interviews pg157 under the headline ‘Advantages and disadvantages of the interview.



Both books were very helpful but Bill Gillham’s book gave me a greater
understanding of how a semi-structured interview is and why it would
be the best way of gaining the information that I needed from my
interviewees. I thought that the semi-structured interview would
facilitate in a good use of unearthing the best answers for my
questions and having additional information to add to them whilst still
in discussion.

Bill Gillham says “one of the strengths of the semi-
structured interview is that it facilitates a strong
element of discovery, while its structured focus
allows an analysis in terms of commonalities.”4

Both these quotes from Judith Bell and Bill Gillham helped me to
understand that it was important for this research project to be
structured well in terms of setting out my interviews, the design layout
and the techniques I chose to use to hold a well informative interview
discussion on my chosen subject area.

Other Resources
As well as the interviews I constructed I have also used a many
number of resources from the store such as their VM packs, as well
their general merchandising training pack to understand how the
company’s training inﬂuences the merchandisers of the store. These
resources have helped my research along by giving me an insight in to
the rules that have to be applied when planning to merchandise a
department within JD. I have also gained major knowledge on the
challenges that the store faces in order to create a point of difference
and keep in mind what the buyers aims were when purchasing new
brand items.

Results, Analysis and Interpretation
The data that I have obtained from my primary and secondary
research is that JDs visual merchandising has changed over the past
20 years due to a larger commerciality of the store and trends from
each different seasonal change. My secondary research has mostly just
given me a background on the subject of merchandising and why it is
of a great importance to many retail stores throughout the world. I
believe that JDs merchandising has gone from strength to strength as
they have kept in touch with what it’s consumers want from their
products over the past 10+ years, and they have also learnt from
mistakes that they have made regarding their branding.

4Direct quote from ‘Research interviewing’, chapter 10: the semi-structured interview pg72
under the headline ‘Developing an interview focus’



A pinpoint distinction between how sportswear is
portrayed as fashion
From my interview with my manager’s I found that JD believes
that their fashion is now classed within their sportswear, especially
Adidas Originals and Fred Perry which are classed as heritage and
retro fashion sportswear. JDs visual merchandising is portrayed in
much the same way for their sports and also their fashion
merchandise, although I found that they do differentiate in the way
that they merchandise their fashion clothing from their sports
clothing. The fashion clothing is now dominated mostly by heritage
and retro and is merchandised using alternative tiers, wooden hangers
and different backdrops to distinguish it from the main sports
clothing.

“Yes we try to create a point of difference with the
use of different hangers, backdrops and furniture as
well as merchandising at an alternative tier to
sport.” (Leanne Rodgerson, Manager of JD)5

Shows the underwear the
company sells as well as
the jeans, this encourages
add on sales.

On a larger scale, JD uses connecting stores Scotts and Bank to
house the higher-end fashion brands which push the fashion scale
even further. Scotts house the high-end brands and are set up like
concessions where as Bank is high street fashion retail so each stores
point of difference is their merchandising. Each of the stores also uses
different lighting, textures and different furniture as well as
accessorising differently to JDs fashion. Each of these stores pushes
sales even higher which maximise the fashion side of the company
even more.

5Direct quote from interview with branch manager Leanne Rodgerson to the answered
question ‘Do you feel that the sports and fashion brands are merchandised in different ways?’



The company merchandise the sports clothing differently again and is
put at the best location points in the store, this is because fleece
dominates the sports department and gains a higher profit for the
company. The sports department is cut into smaller sections which are
full to the brim with Nike, Adidas and McKenzie fleece pants, hoods
and jumpers. These are all merchandised into higher tiers than
fashion due to the amount of popularity with these products from the
consumer.

Higher tiers and plastic
hangers, more stock to
merchandise and group.

Ascertaining how important window displays are
merchandised to consumers
The window displays are the main focal point for JD as they are
the first contact with their consumers so it is important for them to
get the correct image across with their brands. The marketing
department ensures that a variety of new brands are placed in the
window to promote what they believe to be key sellers to the store;
these are mainly Nike and Adidas. The window displays are changed at
least every two weeks in order to promote the latest footwear and
clothing trends as well as seasonal changes such as summer wear and
their sales. JD usually places Nike and Adidas in the window to
support the launch of new footwear styles, these companies pay a
small amount of money to JD for the window space.

Created by Amy Flitcroft - 10 -


The advertising campaigns used to communicate to
the companies consumer base
JD has many promotional campaigns which advertise new
clothing and footwear lines using everyday objects such as bus stops,
buses, phone boxes and magazines which usually feature the
companies own brand labels. These advertisements help the store as
the consumers see these around them everyday. The company also
produce their own monthly magazine where key sellers and future
launches are advertised, these magazines are usually in every JD store
and are a free purchase.

The JD slogan is “The best of the best” which has been a consistent
marketing tool for well over 5 years and it works well with selling their
brands still today. This is shown through exclusive footwear brands
especially made for the company which are massively important for to
them as this makes them differentiate from other sports stores. This is
shown through what JD believes its brand values are.

“To get the highest quality produce that we can with
the best ﬁnish, when taking an item from a drawing
to a ﬁnal piece we need to ensure we get the best



material, logo and finishing.” (Leanne Rodgerson, JD
Manager)6

Although the windows are not the main support feature to the
company they do usually carry themes which are shown especially
through each seasonal change. JD also uses mannequins in the
window and instore to show new brand products which are
accessorised in outfits to show the many different combinations of
products to choose from.

“Our windows normally carry themes, mannequins in
the window and stores are used to push new
products, but mainly magazines, billboards and such
are used to campaign new products more as
consumers see these all around them everyday.” (Lee
Minchin, JD merchandiser/floor manager) 7

Seasonal window
displays – kept to a
colour scheme
throughout the
window, gold, silver,
green and red.
Mannequin shows key
fashion seller for
women’s apparel.

6Direct quote from interview with JDs branch manager Leanne Rodgerson to the answered
question ‘What are JDs brand values?’
7Direct quote from interview with merchandiser/floor manager Lee Minchin to the answered
question ‘Are the window displays the main support feature for promoting the stores new
brand merchandise?’



The images of the window display below show the seasonal
theme which is in the window at the moment. The windows have
simplicity and professionalism through and through as JD likes to
keep trouble-free and effortless so they do not over sell their windows
image.

The change in JDs graphics over the past 10 years
and how it has encouraged sales even further
The graphics in the store have been greatly updated by changing
colour and name. The name was changed from JD Sports to just JD as
they needed to drop it in order to create the right image(Leanne
Rodgerson, JD Manager), a strong black and white simple JD logo was
created to symbolise this change in name. As well as the change in
logo, most of the instore POS has been simplified; it is clean cut, easy
to work with and makes a really strong statement to their consumers
which is that they are still trend wise and will be well into the near
future. A strong use of colour is used within the store as it is an
important factor for complimenting colours to be merchandised
together. This increases outfit combinations, and JD also encourages
add on sales by merchandising in outfits and colour pallets.

We needed to drop “sports” in order to create the
right image and creating a strong black and white
simple JD logo has helped with this. (Leanne
Rodgerson, JD manager) 8

Identifying how JD predicts trend changes and how
their buyers use this to strengthen each product
over the years
JD tries to stay ahead by predicting what may be their best sellers
by placing them in prominent locations. They have to merchandise by
keeping in mind what the buyers aims were at the point of purchase
from each department. JDs aims when purchasing new buys are to try
and keep in mind new trends and consumers opinions which will not
be the same in different towns and regions. In JD each department has
their own buyers which each have their own budgets which are divided
up based on figures from previous year’s trade patterns by the head of
the buying department. This is done so that each of the departments
benefit from what the buyers purchase, they have to know what the
best sellers are so they can make similar choices on products every
year for each department.

question ‘Has moving into the fashion market changed the graphic designs?’



Even with JD merging its sports more into fashion, sportswear is still
the strongest in terms of their yearly figures but they do see their
fashion heritage creeping higher and higher.

“Sports is JDs bread and butter line, however with
trends that change figures fluctuate and quite often
fashion creeps higher and higher. Figures wise
fashion now perform and percentage wise often put
up as strong if not stronger performance year on
year than sportswear.“ (Leanne Rodgerson, JD
Manager)9

The planning and merchandising of each department
within JD
When planning the layout of their merchandise JD do not adhere
to any plan although a few basics do have to be followed, this is
mainly keeping brand packages and colours together and also the
order in which it runs from the VM packs. By not sticking to a strict
plan stock can often be worked with over and over to get the best
from it. When moving stock around the merchandisers use
planograms in order to visualise how they want it to look before
changing the wall around.

“Basic rules have to be followed but generally
plans come together based on previous
experience of reacting to similar situations I
have done.”(Lee Minchin, JD merchandiser/floor
manager)10

Each department within JD will differ greatly and do not follow suit all
around the store. The company merchandisers plan their techniques
to what is right for each size and density of each category within the
departments when merchandising the stock. Due to Nike and Adidas
been the strongest sellers within the shop this brand stock has to have
a higher regard by keeping these lines within prominent locations
where it is at better eye level for the consumers to notice. The VM
packs are produced mainly by the merchandising department and are
broken down into departmental sections within every JD store;
sometimes it is tested in a store beforehand. Any VM changes are
mostly shown through regular visits from head office executives as
well as the main merchandising manager. Even now with classing

question ‘Sports or Fashion: Which is the more popular seller between the two departments?’
10Direct quote from interview with JD merchandiser/floor manager Lee Minchin to the
answered question ‘Do you follow a strict rule when planning to move stock around?'



sportswear into fashion styling the VM packs haven’t changed much,
they are just there to help the stores create uniformity throughout the
company. Using these VM packs throughout the JD stores it is easier
to pick up on how the buyers and merchandisers story pallet has been
created for upcoming seasonal trends and it creates a major point of
difference for JD over other sports retailers.

Recommendations
I believe that I have gathered enough evidence from my research
to understand how and why JD is so popular on the high street. I have
gained a greater understanding in terms of how they conduct
themselves within the use of their merchandising and the
communication they have with their consumers and also within the
company. I do also believe that this subject can be further researched
especially on the companies own brand products, how they create
them and what other brands influence their own styles. I feel that
more research could be done from my findings on how differently the
advertising is within the company and the way that they use their
window displays, a bigger understanding and more advanced research
into this could view why they advertise differently with their own brand
products against other leading brands such as Nike and Adidas.

Conclusions
I conclude that the results that I have gained from my research in
my view have answered my question with great knowledge and
relevance especially from my interviews. I have managed to answer
each objective that I set forth for myself by using these as personal
goals for my analysis and interpretation of my findings. From these
findings I conclude that visual merchandising is one of the most
important things that the company do as it helps them to
communicate well with their consumers, which gains great respect
from them. This support from their consumers has helped them to be
classed as one of the highest recommended sports retailers on the
high street.
I found out from the interviews that I conducted that they have
supported my question massively through the information which was
gathered from my managers. My manager’s support the companies
merchandising hugely and each of them believe that their sportswear
is now classed as fashion, which is separated into two categories
casual and sportswear fashion.
I believe that JDs merchandising has gone from strength to strength
and I trust that it will keep on doing so for many years to come; this is
based on the support and hard work that come from every section of
the company. The company as a whole has good communication skills
throughout departments which has helped them immensely in the way



that there advertising campaigns are run. I have learnt that the
marketing team communicate well with the brand designers and
buyers so that they can design the best advertising campaigns for the
new stock that’s purchased, and with this I consider that this is what
sets them apart from other sports retailers.

My ﬁnal feelings are that JD will keep rising to each challenge
that they face over the next coming years and will continue to produce
the highest quality products for their sports and casual fashion
brands. This company’s slogan “the best of the best” has been the
greatest as it is what the company is in terms of customer awareness,
keeping within trends and their general advertising and merchandising
campaigns going from strength to strength.


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