Decathlon: PLs... our “passion”

When we think of PLs we, usually, think of food. But it’s not always like this. In fact, more than 80% of the turnover of the multinational producer of sport products is PL.

IRegarding figures, the king of the sports world had, as of April 2022, 1,746 stores in 60 countries for a net turnover, in 2021, of 13.8 billion euros, of which 1.7 was due to Italy. In Italy, there are almost 150 stores and 8 thousand employees.

Also in PLs, or rather, ‘Passion Brand’, the group leads the way, as Eric Goussen, Sales Manager at Decathlon Italia , tells us.

How much do your Pls affect your sales, in Italy and in the world, right now?

Tribord (sail, ed.) and Quechua are the first Passion brands for Decathlon, which came to be in 1996. Their design office is close to their sport sites, so that they are able to take advantage of convenient tests and exchanges with users. Over the years, we added more exclusive brands and now, their turnover accounts for over 80% of the total turnover.

What is the main criterion for the development of your products?

Since 1996, when we created our first exclusive brands, we have made a lot of progress. In 2006, we introduced eco-design to our production processes. For a brand, this is an important step towards sustainability and, in this, it helps to go faster. Our objective is clear: reaching eco-friendly production for 100% of our products by 2026.

The Internet is very important for you. On this channel, are your own PLs or other brands doing better?

Decathlon.it website is now a vessel for both our own and others’ products: in fact, it’s also a marketplace and, so, it can also offer all the references of other collections. So, it’s clear that the Passion brand percentage on the web it’s not predominant.

Let’s quantify the supply...

Today, our design and planning center develops items for more than 80 sports. Considering the total turnover of Decathlon brands, our best-selling products are in the categories of cycling, hiking and fitness.

The Sports world has always been innovative, especially in the past few years, when gyms were closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Which products did you favor and do you think you still prefer launches of new products and lines?

No matter the circumstances and the recent past, I have to say that, for Decathlon, innovation is the criterion that informs product design and the challenge, in providing new sportive solutions to our clients, is constant. Our team is motivated to use new materials and new technologies and to always give a new look to our products, and as I said before, to move towards environmentally sustainable manufacturing techniques. For this reason, at Decathlon we have 850 product engineers and 300 designers, which in more than 10 centers have recorded, over the years, more than 9 thousand patents.

Decathlon is a multinational company. What are the exclusive products you import from other national supply chains?

And what do you export?

In Italy, we develop for the group several industrial processes, which allow us to produce their relevant items. In particular, in the cycling, metal processing, textile, footwear, plastic, optic, foams and component industries. Furthermore, Italy now accommodates the design for 4 sports. Bicycle production, then, reflects one of the excellencies of our industrial department: metal and cycling are certainly among these. In Particular, we develop steel frames, wheels and bikes for children.

What is the average duration of the contracts with the suppliers?

Decathlon assigns the production of its sport products to a world-wide supplier panel, organized according to industrial processes. The company wants to establish long-term relationships based on trust. This is carried out on a daily basis by the Decathlon production department teams, which guarantee respect for the Decathlon ‘Code of Conduct’ and carry out audit procedures. In Italy, we collaborate with about 100 suppliers, 2 of which are partners. The producers are supervised, through training or support, to facilitate, among other things, learning and the adoption of our solid code of ethics and safety.

And do we narrow it down to ‘the most loyal’?

Quoting our 2021 Extra-finance Sustainability Report, I can say there’s a shortlist of 50 suppliers that fully share our entrepreneurial perspective and produce 34.7% of the total company production. Plus, in 2021, Decathlon United widened its group of subcontractors with 5 new third-party partners. Those you call ‘the most loyal’ are large, strategic suppliers, with whom Decathlon established their relationship according to the increase of sustainable performances. Others, which represent less than 20% of the production of the group, can be valid collaborators, especially for local supplies. l