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Music, signage and atmosphere influence how long customers stay, how they feel, and how they perceive a brand.
In a competitive retail environment, these elements play a critical role in shaping brand identity and in-store engagement.
JD Sports has built a strong position as a leading global sports fashion retailer, with a large estate, strong brand partnerships and a highly trend-driven customer base. Our observations and suggestions could support and further enhance that positioning.
Music was a dominant part of the store experience, with a strong emphasis on rap and dance tracks that aligned well with JD’s youth-led, streetwear-influenced positioning.
The sound system was impactful, particularly in the footwear section where volume levels were significantly higher and created a high-energy, almost club-like atmosphere.
While this can work effectively during busy trading periods, the experience felt overly intense during quieter moments, where the same energy level became overwhelming rather than engaging.
Transitions between tracks also felt continuous and DJ-led, reinforcing a nightclub feel throughout the store. This supports JD’s bold identity, but there is an opportunity to introduce more control and flexibility depending on footfall and time of day.
There was a mix of static digital screens within the store, including smaller screens above footwear displays and larger branding-led screens in clothing areas.
However, content appeared largely static, with limited movement or campaign-driven storytelling. There was also no use of external digital signage to support footfall or highlight campaigns before entry.
This creates an opportunity to evolve signage into a more dynamic, connected part of the customer journey - particularly in a business driven by product drops, exclusives and fast-moving campaigns.
Implement daypart and footfall-based music strategies to ensure energy levels match store conditions - maintaining impact during peak times while avoiding overstimulation during quieter periods.
Move beyond a single high-energy sound profile by introducing structured playlists that still feel JD, but adapt to different shopping moments and environments within the store.
Introduce more flexible digital content to support product drops, brand partnerships and seasonal campaigns - ensuring messaging feels current, relevant and responsive.
Based on your brand, audience and environment, here’s an example of how your music could feel with Startle.
This playlist has been designed to reflect JD Sports’ culture-led, streetwear-driven identity - blending contemporary R&B, alt-pop, UK underground and forward-thinking electronic sounds to create a modern, fashion-forward atmosphere.
The aim is to:
Choose from our library of over 100 professionally crafted playlists spanning genres, moods and sectors, or opt for curated soundtracks for your stores.
We offer simple, scalable digital signage to showcase campaigns, collections and promotions - making it easier to keep stores fresh, relevant and visually engaging.
With Startle Studio, you’ll have full visibility and control of all your stores’ schedules from a central platform, ensuring consistency across every location.
We’ve worked with multi-site retailers for years to create more engaging, brand-led in-store environments.
We partnered with schuh to help strengthen their in-store music experience across a fast-moving retail estate. With a strong youth audience and high street presence, music plays a key role in shaping brand perception at the point of purchase.
By aligning sound with schuh’s bold, trend-led positioning, we helped create a more consistent and recognisable in-store identity - ensuring stores felt energetic, relevant and culturally connected across all locations.
This included:
Startle have consistently been a great support to our stores. From their content management, music profiling and technical support, Startle have enabled us to create a seamless shopping atmosphere across our full store estate.
Marketing Manager
Book your discovery call to explore how music and signage could enhance experience, consistency and engagement across your estate.
On this call we’ll:
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