Dive Brief:

• Dick's Sporting Goods will extend its Black Friday deals across a 10-day period between Nov. 18 and Nov. 28 in stores and online. The retailer is offering a variety of Black Friday promotions for brands such as Nike, Schwinn, Adidas and North Face, per the company announcement. 

• The company has also introduced mobile checkout and return stations, a Dick's Shop/Click/Pay app at select locations and a line management plan for its stores across the country, according to the company announcement. 

• The retailer has hired more staffers to handle ship-from-store and one-hour curbside contactless pickup services.

Dive Insight:

Dick's Sporting Goods is the latest to join the growing list of retailers spreading out their holiday deals, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon, Old Navy and Walmart. For the first time, the company is extending its Black Friday sales and rolling out tech features so customers can avoid large crowds and provide a simpler holiday shopping process, said Lauren Hobart, president of Dick's Sporting Goods. Research from Adobe suggests that more retailers will stretch out their holiday sales and e-commerce will likely spike during the holiday season. 

Dick's Sporting Goods is among the few retailers that have found success during the COVID-19 pandemic due in part to increased demand for sports gear and at-home workout equipment. The retailer noted that it will offer discounts on home gym and outdoors items.

The increased demand for outdoor and fitness equipment was in part responsible for the retailer's 20.7% bump in comparable sales, which helped increase net sales to $2.7 billion during the second quarter. Its online sales, including its contactless pickup option, spiked by 194%.

Besides updating its technological capabilities, the store also announced two new clearance store concepts, Overtime by Dick's Sporting Goods and Dick's Sporting Goods Warehouse, in June.