Table of content

1. Introduction
2. 4 P’s
3. SWOT analysis
4. How on Earth did decathlon crack the Indian
market?
5. What are the business strategies that held them
stand out in the crowded Indian Sports market?
6. How on Earth are they able to sell products of such
good quality at such low prices?
7. How did decathlon differentiate itself from other
cheap Brands?
8. What are the business lessons that we need to learn
from the iconic rise of decathlon in Indian Sport
market?
INTRODUCTION
The Indian Sports industry is one of the fastest growing in the world.
Although on a smaller base and this is considerably higher than the five
percent growth the world is seeing in terms of the sports industry. In
the last five years a big roadblock with many young kids taking up a
variety of sports is generally the problem of equipment and gear where
to buy a good badminton racket, where to find gear for sports like
horse riding or archery or even for hiking. Well we've got the answer
for you the Decathlon. So it isn't the toy store we're talking about but a
mega sports brand Decathlon is bigger than Nike, Adidas and Reebok in
India. The story of a brand that has beaten giants like Nike and Adidas
in their own game in India. While its competitors have star-studded
celebrity endorsements this brand doesn't have any celebrity endorsing
them doesn't have any TV ad running and yet it does more Revenue in
India than Nike Adidas and Reebok combined this brand that I'm talking
about is none other than Decathlon and you will be stunned to know
that while Adidas earned a revenue of 1551 crores Nike stood at 814
crores Reebok stood at 417 crores whereas decathlon alone earned a
revenue of 2936 crores the question is without a big fat marketing
budget without a celebrity endorsement
In India decathlon provide over 50 Sports ranging from badminton to
inline skates each decathlon store offers an amazing user experience
through the store events and workshop

4P’s of Decathlon
1) Product - Decathlon is one of the leading sports apparel and
accessories brands in the world. Its product portfolio includes
sports equipments, accessories, clothing , footwear and much
more. There is a wide collection of products for all the sports
including football, baseball, basketball, cricket, badminton, etc.
Decathlon also has all the items for less popular sports like
archery, billiard, darts, field hockey, roller skates, volleyball and
even scuba diving.

2) Price - Decathlon brand aims to encourage sports all over the

world. So, it makes sure every sporting gear is available at
affordable prices. It has consistently maintained its low prices by
not compromising with quality. This is because of the optimization
of internal processes in design and logistics. Cost leadership, along
with decent quality is the core competency of this brand.
Decathlon keeps its prices around 20 percent lower than its
competitors.

3) Place - Decathlon has an immensely distributed network with

over 800 stores all over the world. It grew to 104 stores across
India by Sep ’22. Decathlon produces over 5000 SKUs from 80
different sports to choose from, clustered into roughly 24 in-
house brands.
 Decathlon has also announced that it will produce 85% of its
products in India by 2026 (currently this number is 60%)

4) Promotion - So far Decathlon has focused mainly on BTL

activations (coaching classes, paid events), and word-of-mouth
recommendation augmented by launch announcement ads in
newspapers announcing their arrival in different cities. The only
two campaigns of note that Decathlon has executed so far have
been its #PlayFor campaign (encouraging everyone to get back to
playing in whatever way they could) and the Preserve our only
Playground campaign focused on their environmental initiatives.
SWOT Analysis
Strength
 Vertical Integration: Decathlon controls all the stages of its
supply chain, This gives the company full control over its product
quality and costs, enabling it to deliver high-quality products at
affordable prices.
 Broad Product Range: Decathlon caters to more than 70 sports,
offering a wide range of products from clothing and shoes to sports
equipment.
 Global Presence: With more than 2000 stores in 58
countries, Decathlon has a strong global presence, enabling
it to reach a wide customer base. The company’s
international operations also help mitigate risks associated
with market fluctuations in any country or region
  Sustainable Practices: Decathlon’s commitment to sustainability
resonates with a growing number of consumers. Its focus on eco-
design, waste reduction, and recycling also helps to reduce its
overall environmental impact.

Weakness
 Standardized Products: Standardized products allows it to
maintain lower costs and higher inventory turnover. However, this
can lead to less product differentiation and fail to cater to specific
consumer demands or unique needs.
 Dependence on Physical Store: A significant portion of
Decathlon’s sales come from their physical stores. This can be a
vulnerability in circumstances where access to physical retail is
restricted, such as during lockdowns caused by the COVID-19
pandemic.
 Limited High-End Offerings: Decathlon’s focus on affordable
sports equipment might limit its appeal to customers seeking high-
end, specialized sports gear. Some consumers perceive
Decathlon’s products as lower quality due to their lower prices.
 Supply Chain Complexity: The vertical integration that gives
sDecathlon control over its supply chain also makes it complex.
Managing all aspects of the supply chain effectively and efficiently
can be challenging.

Opportunity
 E-commerce Expansion: As online shopping grows globally,
investing in the online platform, enhancing the digital customer
experience, and optimizing the delivery process can drive
increased sales and customer loyalty.
 Sustainable Products and Practices: Decathlon can capitalize on
this trend by developing more eco-friendly products and promoting
its existing sustainable initiatives.
 Partnerships and Collaborations: Collaborating with sports
events, celebrities, or influencers can help increase brand
awareness and attract new customers. Partnerships with other
companies can also lead to exciting cross-promotion opportunities.
 Product Expansion: While Decathlon already offers a wide range
of products, there are always opportunities to expand into new
sports or cater to niche markets.

Threats
 Competition: The sports retail industry is highly
competitive, Decathlon competes with other global giants
such as Nike, Adidas,etc and local retailers in various
countries.
 Economic Downturns: Economic downturns or recessions can
impact consumer spending, decreasing sales.
 Global Trade Uncertainties: global trade uncertainties such as
tariff wars or regulatory changes could affect Decathlon’s supply
chain. These can lead to increased costs and potential supply
disruptions.
 Counterfeit Products: As with any popular brand, counterfeit
products threaten Decathlon. Fake products can erode brand trust
and reduce sales of genuine products.
How on Earth did decathlon crack the Indian
market?
To understand the genius strategy behind Decathlon, Let’s look at the
sports equipment brand that carters to different people in society.

This Market had four categories of people the first type of customers
were
hopeful customers: these were people who had good skills with the
game but always had a tight budget in simple words given a choice
between English Willow and Kashmir below we would always buy a
Kashmir Willow because it was cheap.
Beginners: these were people who had less skill plus a smaller budget
and these were people who would occasionally purchase sports goods
just to try out a sport and surprisingly there are beginners in all sports
in India starting from tennis to badminton to even squash but somehow
back then the gear for these ports were not easily available.
casual enthusiasts these people are not skilled but they are rich enough
to buy great products for example we always had this one kid who
never scored Beyond 10 runs but always wore a Nike shoe and always
played with an SG bat among adults these are rich people who buy
branded products even for a trip to Goa so for them branded items are
primarily fashion choices.
Elites these are individuals who possess both Superior skills and
financial flexibility they would buy products not for a hobby but to
improve their performance basically professional players
This is a broad categorization of the sports Market of India now if we
look at the brands for these different types of customers we will see
that Nike Adidas and Sketchers always catered and still cater to the
elites and Casual enthusiasts in the market. Back in the early 2000s
there was a huge Market of hopefuls and beginners that bought
products only from the unorganized Market.

To put that into perspective in 2012-13 while the sports goods Market
of India was worth 2 billion dollars 75 percent of this Market was
unorganized and only 25 percent was organized so three out of four
Indians were buying products from the unorganized market rather than
Nike and Adidas.
So when decathlon entered the Indian market in 2009 instead of
competing in the small Market with big players they decided to
compete with the smaller players in the big unorganized Market so
instead of making products for the elites and Casual enthusiasts
They made products for hopefuls and the beginners with tight pockets
in India this is where we saw the rise of decathlon stores all across the
country there are 1600 stores in almost 60 countries across the world.

What are the business strategies that held them

stand out in the crowded Indian Sports market?
Now if you have ever been into a decathlon store you know that it's
nothing short of a Sportsman's paradise and there is something very
special that makes you just want to buy everything if you've ever felt
this you are not the only one. Turns out decathlon's story design is so
amazing that according to a Study 37 percent of the people who came
into a decathlon store ended up with a walk by purchase as in they
were just walking by and they just decided to buy something from
Decathlon. There are three elements that make Decathlon stores super
effective :-
+ Endownment Effect :- if you've ever been to a decathlon store you
would realize that it offers an immersive experience and inside the
store each section has a complete set of gears for every single Sport
and each section gives you enough space to play and use the products
freely this is what temps you to buy the product in the retail business
it's called the endowment effect so when customers touch or hold a
product they begin to feel a sense of ownership over it and this feeling
can make the product seem more valuable to them which eventually
increases the probability of sale.

In terms of statistics research says that Shoppers who touch the

products are willing to pay more for them than the Shoppers who only
look at the products in fact in an experiment participants who could
touch a mug were willing to pay 60 more for the mug than the
participants who could only see the mug. So do you see what decathlon
stores do they make you touch and feel the product so well that
automatically the endowment effect kicks in and makes you want to
buy the product.
+ Employees and Staff :- The store has wonderful employees. Did you
know decathlon chooses only those people who are sports enthusiasts
as their Executives and they deliberately choose only those people who
are actively playing the sport on top of that during their training period
they are given three instructions
- never sell to the customer
- always educate the customer
- most importantly always allow the customers to freely use the
products without disturbing them.
for example:- if you are a beginner looking for tennis shoes
and you see three shoes costing two thousand three thousand
five thousand ideally if you have the budget the staff must
convince you to buy the 5000 rupee product but even then a
decathlon staff would insist you to buy the 2000 rupee product
only because it would be good enough for you and not just that
because she is a sports player herself she will also explain why
that product is best for you and these interactions cultivate such
an amazing Speed Of Trust that you can walk into a decathlon
store without being scared of upsells or forced sales.
+ The product placement of decathlon
- You can see that decathlon offers products from just 100 rupees
all the way to 1 lakh rupees and very smartly. They Place their
cheapest products at the entrance so that they can create an
impression of affordable prices

- secondly just like Walmart keeps the milk packets way inside the
store even decathlon places the frequently bought products way
inside so that while you walk inside you can see other products
and hence increasing the probability of impulse buying.
According to a study 84 percent of customers spent more than 30
minutes at the Decathlon store and due to endownment effect
the more time they spend the products the more likely are they to
buy them.

How on Earth are they able to sell products of

such good quality at such low prices ?
To ensure recurring customers decathlon ensured that it always
offered value for money by offering great quality products at
reasonable prices. Their products are sturdy they offer long lasting
warranties like a two year warranty on shoelaces and finally they
offer a price that's 30 to 40 percent cheaper than the competition
but the question over here is how on Earth are they able to sell
products of such good quality at such low prices well there are
three straightforward reasons for:-
1) just like d-mart their stores are rented
2) they do not spend aggressively on marketing and they do not
spend on making their stores fancy
3) they manufacture their products in the same country they sell
for example - in India they currently have eight partner
factories where they manufacture their products and by 2026
their aim is to locally produce 85 percent of their products
 How did decathlon differentiate itself from other
cheap Brands ?
Well this is where their Innovation quadrant comes into play this
coordinate has four categories of products

1) small improvements and Innovations for example in the

unorganized Market the basic head torch was available with a
20 hour battery and a 30 Lumen brightness light but decathlon
worked on it and they optimized the product in such a way that
they made a rechargeable head torch with a brightness of 200
 Lumen with a 30 hour battery life and with multiple lighting
modes so by default the product stands out.
2)Technical Innovations- technical innovation incorporated in
them for example back then when you took normal bikes to a
hilly terrain you needed to manually change the gears this is
when decathlon came up with a long distance 920e connected
Bike by between this bike offered an automatic gearing system
that would automatically change the gears according to the
terrain this made idling way smoother and easier so again the
product stands out because of the technical Innovation which
makes it way better and way easier to use

4) extraordinary user experience Innovation- for example they

worked obsessively to reduce the weight of trekking products
by 15 to 20 now for people like you and me 15 to 20 lighter is
not a significant Improvement right but if you go and talk to a
trekking Enthusiast or a mountaineer they will tell you that a 15
to 20 reduction in weight is a blessing and sometimes it could
even be a life saver and decathlon did not just make trekking
instruments lighter they even made trekking clothes lighter
Once Upon a Time their shots weighed around 130 grams in
size L but they worked very hard on it and reduced it to just
100 grams so if you carry 10 pieces of clothes that's 300 grams
reduced in just clothing and their best record is making a t-shirt
that weighs a record of just 50 grams.
4)breakthrough Innovation and these Innovations are literally
ground breaking Innovations for example 10 years back the
time to pitch a tent was around 20 to 30 minutes but you know
what the Catalan came up with a keshua tent that could be put
up in just two seconds Yes you heard that right two seconds
now this was groundbreaking because it saved the hikers a lot
of time a lot of energy and gave them extraordinary ease when
they were in harsh climatic conditions it also had a great
feature of having the tent entirely dark so that the sunlight
doesn't penetrate and disturb the Trekker.
What are the business lessons that we need to
learn from the iconic rise of decathlon in Indian
Sport market?
1) So do you realize when you see products that are so good
you don't need a celebrity or a fancy ad to convince you to
buy them this is how by choosing the untapped Market of
beginners and hopefuls by building immersive and amazing
stores and most importantly by being obsessed with product
Innovation for four decades Decathlon became a legend not
just in India but all across the world.
2) While most entrepreneurs are trying to compete in the
organized Market of India the unorganized Market of India is
actually a very huge Market which has a huge scope of both
profits and growth and it's not just decathlon but even other
legendary companies like haldiram and havells they've built
a million dollar business by capturing this unorganized
Market of India
3) With the rise of the e-commerce wave in India the touch and
feel Factor has become one of the most powerful and yet
one of the most underrated elements in business and lastly
always remember product Innovation will always Trump
marketing innovation in short if you fundamentally make
great products marketing becomes a secondary instrument
of sale and that is a mark of an extraordinary business.

References :-
https://m.economictimes.com/prime/con...
https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...
https://sist.sathyabama.ac.in/sist_na...
https://www.newswise.com/articles/con...
https://www.marketingmind.in/marketing-strategies-using-which-
decathlon-has-beaten-nike-adidas-in-sportswear-market/
https://bettermarketing.pub/decathlon-a-sports-brands-playbook-for-
india-853c969d9571
https://thestrategystory.com/blog/decathlon-swot-analysis/