Retailer JD Sports is rolling out more of its “live” service offering personalised football shirts printed in store in partnership with technology platform YR.
After introducing YR’s visual configuration kiosks at its site in Oxford Street in London’s West End last year, the retailer is adding it in April at its flagship store at Manchester’s Trafford Centre – its largest in the world.
Customers can select how they want official replica football shirts to be personalised, such as adding their own name or their favourite player’s name and number, and the garments are then printed while they wait, with customers receiving a notification when their item is ready.
The YR order management system processes orders which are then produced using heat presses from garment branding specialists Avery Dennison and Sefa, using a combination of pre-cut letters numbers and player names in assorted colours and approved fonts.
The configurations, visually presented on large touch screens, reflect what stock is available, as well as what is, and is not, allowed under the various licensing agreements with each football club.
It has also been installed at JD Sports in Leeds, Glasgow, Stratford in east London, and Paris. “It’s been very popular since it went in so we’re slowly rolling into new store locations,” says YR’s UK and Europe director, Anton Weiss.
Established in 2013, YR has pioneered product customisation and on-demand fulfilment solutions, working with leading retail and fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren and Levi’s.
For Hugo Boss, it has developed the ultimate “omnichannel” partnership: it offers personalisation in London, Paris and Düsseldorf with three-dimensional visualisation kiosks, as well as through their EMEA ecommerce and sponsored events such as activations The British Open, the oldest golf championship in the world.
Heat-applied patches can currently be applied to polo shirts and tees whilst leather goods, such as wallets and belts, can be debossed or hot foiled, with options localised for each territory or store.
The Ralph Lauren partnership, under the banner of Create Your Own, or CYO, is also omnichannel. It runs on ecommerce, at 26 retail stores and at sponsored events such as the US Open and Wimbledon with an on-site CYO store.
Anton added: “Personalisation is already really strong for some brands while others are dipping their toes in. It’s surprising how many brands still haven’t explored it properly, or don’t have a team dedicated to it. It’s not going away anytime soon, but it’s key to keep the offer fresh and compelling, especially in terms of content.”
