Marketing and Retail Strategy of Decathlon

Decathlon has a unique set of differentiators acquired over their expertise of operations
across countries, mainly affordability and quality. These two brand qualities have been
registered in the minds of consumers who have came across the brand. This is even
reflected from their tagline “Sports for all, All for Sport”.
Another important differentiator evident from their tagline, is their Product range/variety,
explained by “All for Sport” part. The Decathlon’s retail and online channels communicates
this feature by reiterating “5000 Products across 70 Sports”. Decathlon do have created an
imagery amongst the consumer, where they can recall decathlon as One stop shop for all
sporting goods needs.
As far as Retail Strategy is concerned, Decathlon showcases their product information
boards near the shelfs, which provides information about the product, their price, reviews
and use cases. Emphasis on pricing is provided for low ticket value items such as apparels
and accessories. Decathlon usually places billboards near their outlets, which again
showcases the product and the affordability features.
Online Marketing activities include Video advertisements on Social Media channels like
YouTube, Instagram. The video advertisements are themed around a variety of concepts like
Diversity in Sports, Make in India, Sustainability, Product launches and features etc. The
video advertisements are generally low involvement learning in case of Decathlon since the
videos are generally short and focus on a particular theme.
Decathlon also posts a lot about the products used in various sports and educating the
viewers on various aspects around it, like ‘How to choose your hockey stick’. Various
product features have also been showcased in form of posts on Social Media handles. These
fall under High Involvement Learning and Decathlon uses Analytical Reasoning conditioning
to urge the viewers to think more on the pricing, product features etc. mentioned in the
communication.
Decathlon promotes its brand as one that is constantly evolving. Their SportsLab, where
items are tested by a team of professionals, athletes, and sports specialists during the
design process, is a vital hub of innovation. It is the place where designs are either
abandoned or elevated to the next level.
Decathlon also promotes its brand by collaborating with customers to develop products.
Users are invited to propose product ideas through the Decathlon Creation platform's
suggestion box. If the user's idea piques the company's interest, the user will have the
opportunity to meet and interact with the design team.
These innovative ideas have resulted in a variety of innovative goods such as the Btwin
Folding Bike, 2 Seconds Pop Up Tent, Scooter Child Carrier, and Kiprun LD Running Shoes, all
of which are reasonably priced. However, the price tag isn't the only factor in the company's
success in gaining the trust of millions of customers throughout the world. Decathlon adds
value to its consumers' lives in addition to offering affordable prices.
Modifications to Current Marketing/Retail Strategy
The online communications of Decathlon are very short and generic. It does not showcase
the core differentiator of the brand, Affordability.
Also, there are very less communications in regional languages. Increasing communication in
regional language and being accessible to larger masses of lower middle class and middle-
class people, would help Decathlon to expand into newer market clusters.
Even there are advertisements showcasing large stores Decathlon usually has, with wide
varieties of products. This may lead the consumer to perceive Decathlon as a premium
brand, with high priced products.
To overcome this challenge, it is recommended to include the Affordability factor in their
communications across different channels. This would also increase the gravitation factor
for their offline stores, which usually has great atmospherics and urges the consumers to
purchase multiple products.
Decathlon is working on enhancing the customer experience as a part of its retail strategy.
Decathlon begins to introduce stores in India on the concept of Self-checkout counters with
scan and pay app for invoicing provide a technology-driven, hassle-free shopping
experience. This concept has been recently introduced in one of the biggest store located in
Pacific Mall, Noida. Decathlon is planning to gradually employ this concept across all the 70
stores located in India.
The new retail-cum-experience outlets would totally change the customer experience in
physical stores. The stores would have approximately 3000 sq.feet of area and the capacity
to accommodate more than 1000 people for activities such as basketball shootouts,
freestyle-football, zumba, flash-mobs, etc. Here, Decathlon is employing operant
conditioning. Customers will try different sports which will reinforce the experience of
customer. By trying out different sports equipment, they can learn much more about the
sport and the product as well. Customers would give extensive thoughts to the product,
because sports accessories are high-level involvement products. Once they buy a product
after trying out the quality, they would again buy from Decathlon because of this positive
and unique experience.
Decathlon should focus on designing store space in such a manner that it should features
specific sections for ladies, men, children, and teenagers to enhance the shopping
experience, by building specialised activity and community zones fully equipped to meet the
diverse needs of a passionate fitness enthusiast. Customers can practise their favourite
fitness activities in the community space, whether it's augmented reality golf, a simulator
zone, or a skating rink.
Decathlon could also use vicarious learning, which involves learning behaviours by observing
the outcomes of others' actions or picturing the outcomes of potential actions.
As in India, women are apprehensive about trying new activities in front of others. A
dedicated section for women would promote women's participation in athletic activities,
and by watching them, more women would attempt new things, resulting in increased sales
for Decathlon products and the brand gaining traction among young women.
Decathlon must also raise brand recognition and build relationships with its customers.
Decathlon can employ specific sports-related web communities, where individuals can share
their buying experiences, ask questions, and so on, and where problems and concerns may
be promptly answered. Simultaneously, we can see that the competition makes extensive
use of social media to communicate with their customers. Decathlon should therefore
concentrate on expanding the reach of its official social media accounts. Our research also
shows that Decathlon's target customers use social media extensively, and that the majority
of them came to know about Decathlon through social media channels.
Decathlon should also try to cover the stories of Olympics and Paralympics athletes for
social media marketing of its brand. For example, they might excite potential female
customers while also increasing brand awareness and recognition by posting about the
women's India hockey team.