Feature: Decathlon growing with China's sports market over decades

by sportswriter Xiao Yazhuo

PARIS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- In 2003, a French sports retailer launched its first store in Asia in Shanghai, China. This "sports supermarket" model was quite "unconventional" among international sports brands venturing into the Chinese market.

After 21 years, alongside the robust growth of the Chinese sports industry, this French brand has opened nearly 200 stores in China. The recent surge in winter sports and outdoor activities has made it particularly popular among urban sports enthusiasts, with some hot items selling out the moment they hit the shelves.

This company is Decathlon.

In 2024, Decathlon unveiled a new brand identity and a new global strategy. Despite numerous changes and innovations, the company's dedication to deepening its roots and pursuing mutual growth in China remains steadfast.

In the year also marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, Decathlon's Global CEO, Barbara Martin Coppola, told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview that the company is going to be "in China, for China."

FROM LILLE TO NATIONAL: EVOLUTION OF A SPORTS SUPERMARKET

In 1975, Michel Leclercq, a 35-year-old sports enthusiast, conceived the idea of opening a large mall selling only sports goods, from football to basketball, cycling to running, where sports enthusiasts could find the necessary equipment at reasonable prices.

Driven by this idea, he and six other sports-loving partners formed a startup team. The following year, their first "sports supermarket" was born in Englos, a suburb of Lille, named Decathlon to highlight the wide range of products sold.

In just over a decade, this new retail model for sports products was hugely successful in France. Their stores, typically located in standalone buildings resembling warehouses, featured extremely simple shelf designs and product displays arranged by type of sport. These "sports supermarkets" began to enter the daily lives of ordinary French people.

Coppola, who is about the same age as Decathlon, grew up with Decathlon products.

"I'm half French and half Spanish. I grew up with Decathlon all my life. The first product I remember was a Decathlon jumper, very cosy and soft. I kept it for a long time," recalled Coppola. "Since then, all my life, we've gone to Decathlon when we went skiing. I played volleyball at some point, and we went to Decathlon. It was a part of my life."

Coppola's experience is representative of many French nationals, where a consensus gradually formed among sports lovers: for any kind of sport, you could find the necessary equipment at Decathlon.

After decades of development, Decathlon's product line now covers over 80 sports, ranging from traditional sports like football and basketball to new trends like skateboarding and sports climbing.

To meet the specific design and development needs of different sports, Decathlon strategically established design and development centers across the country. For instance, the cycling center remains in Lille; the mountain and outdoor sports center is located in the Alpine towns of Sallanches and Passy; the water sports headquarters is based in Hendaye, a small town on the Atlantic coast in the southwest of France.

As Decathlon continued to go global, some sports projects also established brand centers overseas, including the badminton design center which moved from France to Shanghai, China in 2014.

EXPANSION IN CHINA: WITNESSING EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF SPORTS INDUSTRY

Decathlon's first retail store in China opened in 2003. However, as early as 1994, Decathlon had already made its mark in China, starting its production and procurement operations in Guangzhou.

In the 1990s, China had just successfully hosted the Asian Games in Beijing, and the sports industry was in its nascent stage. Entering the 21st century, with the successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, alongside China's economic boom, the Chinese sports industry rapidly accelerated. Decathlon, deeply rooted in the Chinese market for decades, has ridden this wave and also helped propel this momentum.

"I've been in China with Decathlon and many times before. I am a fan, I love China. This time when I visited, I was really impressed, there is a strong commitment from the party and I would say society to move into sport," Coppola said.

From the first store in Shanghai to nearly 200 stores now, Decathlon currently has over 10,000 employees in China. In Coppola's words, China has become one of Decathlon's most important markets.

"China is one of the top markets, I would say it's top five in the world for Decathlon. It is very big, and not only for the business, China is one of the few markets in the world that has complete capabilities such as industrial capabilities, logistics capabilities, design product capabilities and retail capabilities. Aside from the original country France, Decathlon China is the first overseas market to have a full industry chain," Coppola said.

Decathlon has production and procurement centers in 27 countries and regions worldwide, with over 44% of its procurement share coming from China. Among the products sold in China, 94.2% are made in China, and Coppola said Decathlon's goal is to "increase this percentage to 100%."

In 2015, Beijing won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. In the following years, especially around 2022, the winter sports industry in China experienced skyrocketing growth. Winter sports consumption became a new growth point for sports consumption, and Decathlon seized this opportunity to provide many Chinese people with their "first ski outfit."

"Decathlon has developed a fantastic mountain range since the early beginnings. France has part of the Alps and so French people are skiers and snowboarders, they love snow," Coppola said. "With a strong growth in China, there is a fantastic opportunity to serve and go with that growth in China."

Although it has been over two years since the successful hosting of the Winter Olympics, the enthusiasm for ice and snow sports in China continues. During the recent snow season, Decathlon's winter sports products saw a significant increase in sales. From the start of the snow season in October 2023, the sales of ski products reached a year-on-year growth rate of nearly 100%, far exceeding expectations.

LOOKING FORWARD: BECOME AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF SINO-FRENCH COOPERATION

As Paris gears up to host this year's Olympic Games, Decathlon will serve as an official sponsor, providing uniforms for more than 40,000 volunteers. Recently, a grand event was held at the famous Bercy Arena in Paris, where Decathlon unveiled a new brand identity and a new global strategy.

"The new Decathlon logo has a strong symbolic meaning. It includes a brand wordmark and a track-like logo. The endpoint of the 'track' can be interpreted as a mountain peak, a sail, a wave, or even a heartbeat, collectively pushing the sport to new heights," said Coppola.

According to Coppola, Decathlon's new strategy will mainly focus on three pillars: customer experience, sustainability, and the modernization, rationalization, and digitalization of the entire chain. The practical experiences from the Chinese market can provide important references for the global market in these three areas.

"I'm very impressed with the digitalization and the speed of the country, especially I love the new ways of selling with Douyin, the Red Book, and the different ways of selling socially. And I saw, at Decathlon, how we are directly interacting with consumers and selling real-time. I absolutely loved it. I think there is a lot to learn from China. We came back with my team full of inspiration, but also a stronger partnership," said Coppola, who was in charge of digital business at IKEA before joining Decathlon.

In the field of sustainability, China has also set an example for Decathlon's global market.

"In 2023, Decathlon China joined hands with 14 industrial partners to sign the first green electricity procurement cooperation agreement, marking a significant milestone in Decathlon's efforts to reduce carbon emissions," Coppola said with pride when mentioning this achievement in the Chinese market.

In addition to continuing to provide cost-effective sports products for the public, Decathlon is also attempting to break into more professional fields. In 2023, Decathlon officially became a co-sponsor of the AG2R cycling team. From 2024, Decathlon's road cycling brand Van Rysel will provide the team with a complete set of equipment, including bicycles, helmets, and glasses. This means that bicycles designed and produced by Decathlon will appear on stages of top global competitions like the Tour de France.

"In the past, Decathlon's products were regarded for beginners. Today, Decathlon has the technical strength to design the most professional products for top athletes," Coppola said. "In the future, Decathlon plans to introduce more top-tier sports products to China, in China for China, to better meet the needs of Chinese sports enthusiasts."

Standing at the historical milestone of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, Coppola believes that the Chinese sports industry market still has great potential and hopes that Decathlon can continue to contribute to, and also benefit from, the future development of China's sports industry.

"It's a big milestone and I think it's a unique opportunity to strengthen the relationships even more. Decathlon is a French company, that has been in China for decades. I think we can be a unique link for exchange to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. We can not only use the platform for sharing innovation, but also have win-win business relationships," Coppola said.

Looking to the future, Coppola emphasized Decathlon's commitment to continue its long-term investment in China and expressed the hope that "Decathlon will be taken as a symbol of cooperation and long-term partnership" of Sino-French cooperation.