Key Highlights

• JD Sports achieved 98% on-shelf availability and 20% faster replenishment using Zebra's RFID technology.

• Zebra's TC2 Series mobile computers and RFD40 UHF RFID sleds were deployed across 414 JD Sports locations in the UK and Ireland.

• The rollout was completed in approximately three months, with the first store going live in 76 days.

• Store associates now move 95% more inventory from storeroom to shop floor compared to pre-deployment levels.

Zebra Technologies Corporation(NASDAQ:ZBRA), a provider of enterprise mobility and automation solutions, announced a retail deployment with JD Sports that illustrates how RFID and mobile computing can transform inventory visibility at scale.

The Challenge of Inventory Visibility at Scale

JD Sports, a specialist retailer of trainers, sportswear, and apparel from brands such as Nike, Adidas, and New Balance, operates nearly 5,000 stores across 46 countries. As the retailer scaled, maintaining accurate inventory visibility in stores became a growing challenge. To reliably offer services such as one-hour click-and-collect or 30-minute delivery, the stock count needed to be precise — an operational requirement that manual processes were struggling to meet.

The retailer sought a real-time inventory solution that could support omnichannel operations, was intuitive enough for retail associates to adopt quickly, and could be rolled out rapidly across its store network.

The Zebra Solution

Following a pilot across five stores, JD Sports selected Zebra's TC2 Series mobile computers paired with RFD40 UHF RFID sleds. Associates simply clip the RFID sled onto the mobile computer they already use for daily tasks and walk the store floor and stockroom. The reader logs every tagged item in range and builds a live count on screen, with some stores completed in a single pass.

JD Sports also adopted Zebra OneCare, a service programme that allows associates to swap devices at no additional cost in case of everyday wear or accidental damage. The deployment was supported by Renovotec, a Zebra Premier Solution Partner that led the device rollout, and Checkpoint Systems, a Zebra Registered ISV that integrated its ItemOptix software to provide a unified view of inventory data.

Speed of Deployment

The first store went live in 76 days. From there, the rollout averaged 26 additional stores per week, reaching 414 locations across the UK and Ireland in roughly three months.

Operational Results

The results of the deployment include measurable improvements across several metrics. On-shelf availability reached 98%, while replenishment speed improved by 20%. Store associates now move 95% more inventory from the storeroom to the shop floor compared to the period before the system was deployed, and spend less time on manual stock counting.

Stores can run the RFID scanning process as frequently as twice a week, or even daily, keeping shelves and inventory management systems synchronised. The same visibility has also helped JD Sports address loss prevention more proactively, as teams can now identify and investigate discrepancies sooner rather than waiting for periodic audits.

A Broader Retail Context

The JD Sports deployment is an example of what Zebra calls its Modern Store framework, a model for digitising retail operations from the storeroom to the shop floor. The approach combines mobile computing, RFID, and partner software to give retailers granular visibility into their inventory without disrupting existing workflows.

Looking at the Wider Picture

The JD Sports case demonstrates how RFID technology is moving beyond pilot phases into full-scale retail deployment. For Zebra Technologies, it represents a reference implementation that showcases the speed and operational impact of its hardware-and-partner ecosystem in a large, multi-country retail environment.