Dick’s Sporting Goods first e-commerce push stars Charles Barkley

Dick’s Sporting Goods, which saw e-commerce soar during the pandemic, wants to remind consumers that Dicks.com still has their back even as they return to pre-pandemic shopping behavior. For the first time, the retailer is running a series of commercials devoted to its e-commerce site and mobile app. Charles Barkley partners with the retailer on the campaign, which is the basketball Hall of Famer's second with the brand. Ed Plummer, chief marketing officer, wants Dick’s to emphasize its online option after seeing success during the early months of the pandemic. “We are the online destination for sports gear, and we can get to you conveniently and quickly,” Plummer said. Indeed, during the pandemic, the retailer invested in new innovations including curbside pickup for online orders and better processes around out-of-stock communication to customers. The strategy resulted in a huge uptick in digital sales, as e-commerce doubled at Dick’s in 2020. Yet that growth has slowed down in recent months. As part of its third-quarter results, Dick’s said e-commerce sales decreased 8% for the 39 weeks ended Nov. 2, compared to the same period a year earlier, when they rose 115% over 2019. E-commerce represented 19% of sales for the period, compared to 28% in 2020 and 13% in 2019. Dick’s has also focused on its brick-and-mortar presence with new concept stores. The new campaign includes three spots that will be airing in 30-second and 15-second formats on national TV beginning this week. Each commercial outlines a dilemma that Barkley pops up to solve, as he reminds consumers to visit “Dicks.com” for their immediate sporting goods needs. Dick’s acquired Dicks.com several years ago; the site redirects to the full DicksSportingGoods.com. VMLY&R worked on the campaign. Dick’s will report fourth-quarter earnings on March 8. Get your ticket for the April 5 Ad Age Next: Retail event at AdAge.com/NextRetail.

Dick’s Sporting Goods first e-commerce push stars Charles Barkley

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