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JD Sports is taking its relationship with Nike to the next level.

The UK-based retailer said on Friday that it has extended its retail partnership with the athletic brand to offer the Nike Connected Membership program to its U.S. customers.

This move makes JD the sportswear giant’s first global partner for the popular loyalty rewards program after successfully launching in the UK in 2022, the company said.

With this expansion, JD’s U.S. customers now have access to select Nike member-only footwear and apparel when they opt to link their JD Status and Nike Membership accounts through JD’s website or mobile app. By linking their accounts, customers can unlock an instant reward bonus, curated collections and early access to select Nike member products, as well as exclusive experiences and services, JD said.

“This partnership cements JD’s position as the leading global omnichannel retailer of sports fashion brands, providing our extremely brand conscious customers with the products they want most across footwear and apparel,” Schultz said. “We want our customers to shop with JD knowing they are accessing the very best of what our partner brands have to offer, giving them the confidence that they are at the forefront of the trends shaping sports fashion.”

The announcement follows the success of JD’s Status loyalty program rollout in the U.S., which allows customers to earn points to use on a variety of benefits including “Status Cash” towards future purchases, access to the hottest drops before they launch with Status exclusive access, unique experiences and more.

JD said that its loyalty program now has 5.1 million active members in the U.S., with loyalty members shopping twice as regularly with JD as non-loyalty customers. JD Status – which was rolled out in the UK in October 2023 – is also launching across Europe this summer.

The membership extension also comes as JD makes more investment in North America – a key strategic growth territory for the business. In July, JD Sports completed its acquisition of Birmingham, Ala.-based retailer Hibbett. The British sneaker and athletics giant first announced its plans to acquire Hibbett on April 23 as part of its efforts to dig deeper into the U.S. market in a deal with an enterprise value of $1.11 billion.

Hibbett, which is now an official part of JD’s growing sports empire, rolled out its membership program with Nike in October, following a similar program Nike inked with Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2021.

In its full year results in May, JD reported that revenue in North America increased 8.4 percent to 3.4 billion pounds in fiscal 2024. This outperformance in sales in the region was built upon larger and better-invested stores, a broader sales mix and compelling brand partner relationships, the company said. Overall, JD Sports reported a total revenue of 10.4 billion pounds in fiscal 2024, an increase of 2.7 percent compared to the same 52-week period in 2023.

Inflation in June rose at slowing rate, and footwear retail prices saw a decrease for the first time in more than two years.

Consumer prices rose 3 percent in June compared to last year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released on Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marks the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending March 2021 and a slowdown from May’s 4 percent growth and April’s 4.9 percent. Compared to May 2023, prices in June rose 0.2 percent.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the Core CPI rose 0.2 percent from May and 4.8 percent from the same month in 2022.

The progress comes as retailers gear up for the 2023 back-to-school season, which is likely to be characterized by shoppers looking for the best deals. KPMG’s 2023 Consumer Back to School survey found that shoppers plan to spend on average about $377 per kid this season, which is up 21 percent from a year ago. More than 60 percent of respondents report being concerned about inflation, with 70 percent of them looking for early discounts and 57 percent looking for cheaper brands.

Retail footwear prices dropped 0.9 in June compared to the prior year, marking the first time prices dropped in 26 months. Women’s footwear prices dropped 0.2 percent and men’s declined 1.6 percent. Just in time for back-to-school, children’s footwear prices dropped 0.8 percent.

According to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), year-to-date footwear prices are up just 0.2 percent and are expected to decline year-over-year through the second half of 2023. In April, FDRA noted a large gap between import costs and retail prices, which FDRA predicted would level out.

“With retail footwear prices certainly not likely to go sharply higher, we continue to look for these import costs to remain soft well through 2023, narrowing this gap even further,” Gary Raines, chief economist at FDRA, told FN.

Online prices in June also fell 2.6 percent year-over-year, according to data from Adobe on Tuesday. This marked the biggest drop since since May 2020 when prices fell 1.5% year over year. Compared the May, online prices fell 1.3 percent in June.