Decathlon’s Ambitious Expansion: 10 New Stores Every Year in India
Decathlon, the famous French chain for retailing sports goods, is making aggressive strategies for the Indian market and has committed to opening ten new stores in the country every year.
They aim to make India one of the top five world markets in the upcoming five years. The move will form part of their bigger plan to boost sports across the country. The announcement came at a Paris event where Decathlon also unveiled its new logo and brand look. They are focusing on tapping into India’s growing love for sports.
With a lot of young people in India seeing sports as a possible career, Decathlon sees a big opportunity to grow right here in India. Steve Dykes, the boss of retail and country operations in Decathlon, said that they aimed at going for local products with a percentage between 90 and 95%, which is quite a big jump from the 60% they have now. In simple words, this ensures not only support to the “Make in India” initiative by the government of India but also promises sports lovers are fulfilled with top-quality sports gear and apparel available at affordable prices.
But Decathlon’s plan isn’t just about opening more stores.
They make more and more effort to be able to sell online and, accordingly, open different kinds of stores. Starting with small shops in busy places of cities and ending with big shops, in which everyone can try any kind of sport, Decathlon wants to make sports available to everyone. This approach considers India’s diverse sports preferences, like badminton in Hyderabad or running in Delhi.
Decathlon Global CEO Barbara Martin Coppola said sports have always been important to health and well-being but are vital now when many are stressed or moving too little. Decathlon wants to help encourage many more people to start doing sports, which will eventually build a strong sports culture in India. Hard work already yielded some good results. According to Decathlon India, sales for the fiscal year of March 2023 had been up by 37%. It means that the brand became much more popular in India, not to mention the in-general sense of sport. With Decathlon shifting to India, it’s going to have a huge impact on sports. They aren’t retailers of sports goods; they’re sellers of a much more active and healthier way of life.
