JD Sports-owned apparel giant Hibbett, Inc. is continuing to invest in deepening its digital offerings.
Less than a month after unveiling its new ecommerce site for kids’ products, Hibbett announced July 8 that it has renewed its contract for Digital Wave’s Product Experience Management (PXM) solution. The renewal, according to Hibbett, reflects its commitment to achieving a measurable impact on scaling product content, streamlining internal processes and enhancing its digital shopping experience.
UK-based sportswear giant JD Sports ranks No. 22 in Digital Commerce 360’s Europe Database ranking the largest online retailers in the region. Meanwhile, Hibbett is No. 294 in the Top 2000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. There, it falls under the Sporting Goods category. Digital Commerce 360 projects Hibbett’s total online sales in 2025 will reach $314.04 million.
Hibbett’s digital plans for its sports apparel business
Bill Quinn, chief information officer for Hibbett, praised the role that Digital Wave has played so far.
“Digital Wave’s PXM has been instrumental in improving content accuracy, team alignment and time to market,” Quinn stated. “We’re excited to continue our partnership and keep building on that success.”
The announcement also mentioned that — as part of the renewal — Hibbett will work with Digital Wave on a variety of goals. Those include bolstering areas such as operational efficiency, expanded merchandise assortment, inventory management and customer experience.
A message to Hibbett about the partnership was not immediately returned.
“At a time when customer expectations are higher than ever, Hibbett is meeting the moment with clarity, agility, and ambition,” said Lori Schafer, CEO at Digital Wave Technology. “We’re proud to extend our partnership and continue supporting their growth with a product experience solution that delivers speed, scale, and real business outcomes.”
Why Hibbett is investing in its digital experience
Jeffrey Derman is a partner in the retail group at Solomon Partners. He closely tracks Hibbett and said the Digital Wave partnership makes sense.
“Retailers are increasingly coming to grips with the massive volumes of data their businesses generate or otherwise come into contact with,” Derman said.
He added that this includes data about their customers, vendors, inventory, merchandise velocity and much more.
“Being able to tie that all together to be better able to put the right product on the right shelf (physical or virtual) in front of the right customer at the right time has been a sought-after, but largely elusive goal,” Derman assessed.
He explained that a significant part of the challenge has been that data has historically been siloed. That has meant various systems do not communicate with each other with common reference points.
“There is a hope that increasingly sophisticated AI-driven tools will be able to do better the hard work of that data integration and interpretation to help retailers get closer to achieving that goal, thereby improving conversion, optimizing inventory levels, and bolstering margins,” Derman said.
The role of PMX solutions in online retail
Wanda Cadigan is the senior vice president of marketing at Cloudinary, a media optimization and visual experience platform used by retailers. She said Hibbett is leveraging its partnership with Digital Wave to make the customer experience as seamless as possible.
“For a brand like Hibbett, PMX platforms powered by AI converts scattered data and digital assets into consistent, engaging, and shoppable experiences across every channel,” Cadigan stated.
She noted that consistency is critical. It plays roles in customer trust and enabling partners — from manufacturers to digital marketplaces — to stay aligned in real-time.
“The retail sector’s pace is consistently evolving and accelerating, and AI is helping teams scale what used to take days or weeks into something nearly instantaneous,” Cadigan said.
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