Sports Direct Partners With Open Commerce Platform Reaction Commerce

UK's largest sports retailer implements flexible commerce platform to meet worldwide customer expectations

Santa Monica, CA /PRNewswire/ - Reaction Commerce, the fastest-growing open source commerce platform for modern retailers and brands, today announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Sports Direct International plc, one of the world's leading sporting goods retailers and operator of a diverse group of sports, fashion and luxury stores. Sports Direct is Reaction's first large-scale, global client for its full-stack commerce platform and managed services, and will use Reaction to build out its future-proof, flexible commerce engine to realize their vision of what is possible in commerce.

"We've been on the hunt for a new commerce platform for more than a year, as recent growth and acquisitions mean that our once state-of-the-art platform no longer fits the ambitions, scale, or trajectory of the Group," said Sports Direct International plc Head of Elevation, Michael Murray. "Legacy platforms used in the market work on outdated technologies, many of which were created before the first iPhone, and are not built in a way that aligns the customer, operator, or developer experience with our elevation roadmap. Reaction Commerce allows us to adapt and respond quickly to meet our worldwide customers' expectations, while also positioning our operators and developers with market-leading tools. Reaction's architecture will allow us to incorporate data directly into each experience set, creating a dynamic, data-driven commerce platform on all sides. This was a core building block of our long-term roadmap and something we look forward to realizing with Reaction over the next few years."

"We are thrilled to name Sports Direct International as our global client for our full-stack commerce platform and managed services offerings," said Reaction Commerce co-founder and CEO, Sara Hicks. "Sports Direct was looking for a solution capable of streamlining legacy operations and providing customized online shopping experiences across its hundreds of brand websites. Reaction delivers just that with a modern, open platform that can power Sports Direct International's commerce evolution by enabling them to deliver the exact experience they envision to customers worldwide."

The partnership will roll out to ecommerce brands under the Sports Direct umbrella, including US sites Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob's Stores. Reaction Commerce will enable a strong foundation of event-driven architecture and plugin-driven customization across SDI brands that integrates data across the entire commerce experience. The platform will be implemented across all brands and will be used to develop and streamline commerce data into a single source of truth for online and in-store information, and add specific features such as multi-shop marketplaces, which will vary based on each individual brand's needs.

Reaction Commerce offers proven, out-of-the-box commerce functionality on a tested and stable open source platform. The modular Reaction codebase is built for faster response to customer needs and allows for endless adaptability and customization. Real-time shopping event data is built directly into the platform, making it ready for future developments in analytics and automation across channels. Reaction Commerce offers full-time support, providing clients with access to its experienced engineering team and fast-growing ecosystem of developers using leading technologies such as JavaScript, Node.js, React and Docker.

About Reaction Commerce
Reaction Commerce is the fastest-growing open source commerce platform built for the flexibility and adaptability required by today's retailers and brands. Reaction is the first intelligent and easily customizable solution to provide real-time merchandising, pricing and promotions, and live monitoring of conversions. The full-stack platform is internationalized and localized, architected for different business models—including shops, subscription services and rentals—and is the largest JavaScript commerce project on GitHub, with developer interest growing more than 232 percent year over year.