Decathlon turns web shop into marketplace

Decathlon turns its Belgian webshop into a platform on which other brands and partners can sell their sporting products – from Adidas to local start-ups. The project will be rolled out to other countries as well.

New business model

The Decathlon webshop will become a real ‘Marketplace’, and Belgium will be at the forefront. As from the end of this year, the sports retailer’s e-commerce site will also feature products from more than a hundred other brands involved in sport, well-being and mobility. Online, customers will not only find Adidas football shoes, but also Santini’s rainbow jersey, recycled T-shirts from Brussels start-up Shak&Kai and sports food from Innerme.
 

For Decathlon it is a new business model, in which classic distribution gives way to dropshipping and platform economy. In practice, the sports retailer will coordinate all transactions, while the partners themselves will be responsible for shipping and handling the ordered products. However, they can also choose to outsource the logistics to Decathlon.

To 200,000 sku’s

As a marketplace, Decathlon wants to be able to quadruple its range from 40,000 to 50,000 product references to more than 200,000, according to Trends Magazine. In due course, the online marketplace will be able to order not only products but also services such as travel or workshops. “In this way, we want to strengthen and complete Decathlon’s offer to become the ‘best sports offer’. Companies that have a good product, service or business idea and match with Decathlon are always welcome”, says commercial manager Wim Mathues.
 

The project is due to be extended to the group’s other European countries, including the Netherlands, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, as early as the beginning of next year. Today, the retailer’s Belgian webshop has some 13 million unique visitors.