Decathlon expects India to be in its top five global markets in coming five years

French sports apparel, accessories, and equipment retailer Decathlon has seen India enter its top 10 global markets. The business plans to continue its brick-and-mortar expansion in the country and expects India to enter its top five international markets in the coming five years.

India is a high priority market for Decathlon, the business’ chief retail and countries officer Steve Dykes announced at a recent Decathlon global event, the Press Trust of India reported. As India’s sportswear market continues to grow, Decathlon aims to harness this momentum to connect with shoppers across the country.
 
One way Decathlon plans to grow its India business is by opening new stores. “We want a good rhythm of [opening] 10 stores per year,” said Dykes the event, the Press Trust of India reported. “We are really accelerating online at the moment and positioning ourselves digitally because of the convenience element.” 

Along with its large format stores, the business also plans to open small stores in big cities. These small outlets will measure between 1,000 and 2,000 square metres while its experience centres will be sized at 4,000 square metres. Decathlon will also bolster its e-commerce operations in India and increase its local sourcing to over 90% of its India stock in the coming five years, India Retailing reported.
 
“We have created a new strategy to concretely evolve many aspects of our business,” said Decathlon’s global CEO Barbara Martin Coppola at the event. “This includes recreating our customer experience, accelerating the movement towards sustainability, and modernising our company end-to-end.”