Decathlon opens 5,000 sq m 'lab' at Kallang; store set to shake up sporting retail scene with new features

A robot that takes inventory in a 24-hour store, an indoor patch of land with four different surfaces to test running shoes, and an in-store conveyor belt that transports products as soon as they are ordered online.

These features might have once been the stuff of imagination, but they now exist at French sporting goods retailer Decathlon's largest and most advanced Singapore store, which opens on Saturday, 19 Jan 2019.

Called the Decathlon Singapore Lab and located at Stadium Boulevard, the store is set to shake up the shopping experience in Singapore with its 5,000 sq m of retail space, which includes areas such as a hiking path with a gravel surface for the testing of products in-store.

The store also hosts an Active Health Lab in partnership with Sport Singapore, where users can take a free health assessment.

There are free-to-play areas next to the store as well, and a conveyor belt manages online orders so that Decathlon can deliver its complete range of products in just two hours in Singapore. Shoppers can also order online and collect their items at their preferred store within two hours for free.

Decathlon Singapore chief executive Yves Claude said the store has been named Decathlon Singapore Lab "because a lab is a disruptive and innovative place where we test new solutions". Speaking at its media launch on Friday, he added: "We have to give new reasons for customers to come back to our store."

The Decathlon Singapore Lab is the fourth Decathlon Experience store here. Its 4,000 sq m showroom in Joo Koon used to be the biggest. The company also has two click-and-collect stores. In 2017, it welcomed foot traffic of two million to its three stores at Viva Business Park in Bedok, City Square Mall and Fairprice Hub in Joo Koon.

Last May, during the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Decathlon and Sport Singapore, SportSG chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin had noted that the store would "provide a lot of vibrancy to the Kallang area". Elaborating on the partnership, he added: "We share a common purpose which is to make sports accessible. They come with a good price point, high-quality products, (and) most importantly, they come with ideas on how to improve participation."

Decathlon Singapore Lab store leader Nathaniel Gregory said he hopes the Kallang outlet will change the perception of retail for both shoppers and staff. "Retail used to be very monotonous. Now because our customers are moving to more digital means of shopping, our jobs will also have to evolve," he said. "In the last three years my job was very brick-and-mortar style. Tomorrow I need to learn about SEO (search engine optimisation) and digital marketing."

James Walton, sports business group leader for Deloitte Singapore and South-east Asia, believes Decathlon's growth here can encourage more participation in sport. Noting that the Singapore market used to be dominated by the likes of Nike and adidas, he added: "Decathlon is offering cheaper alternatives for people who are just getting into sport or not so concerned about the brand or having the latest sneaker, and just want something functional."

"They've filled a gap in the market - it's like shopping in an Ikea, (where) you go there and you've got everything in one place. To have a retail supplier out there providing sport clothing and shoes at a price that allows so many of these people to access is definitely beneficial."

Decathlon SG Lab creates experience zones to disrupt 'conventional' retail

Decathlon has launched its newest store called the Decathlon Singapore Lab. This lab aims to integrate sports into one's lifestyle through providing experience zones to test all the products in-store, free sports sessions at its free-to-play areas. The areas include a playground with football pitch, a basketball court and a multisport zone.

The retailer also looks to enhance users' purchase experience through technology. The lab comes with connected fitting rooms, mobile payment solutions and a conveyor belt that manages online orders in the store. Through this, Decathlon will be able to deliver a range of products in a matter of hours in Singapore.

In a statement to Marketing, a Decathlon spokesperson said that the concept behind the store is to marry digital and omni-channel with physical and experiential retail stores. In addition, he added that it was to push the boundaries of these two concepts. The retailer aims to build long term sustainable relationships with its users by automating repetitive process to enhance productivity. The spokesperson said that the brand wants the new store to "disrupt the conventional retail scene".

"Implementing digital innovation is the way to go. It is the best way to enhance shopping experience for users. It is important to note that the innovations are not a direct replacement of humans. It is, in fact, allowing human-to-human interaction which is something that we are deprived of in this world of self-service machines and automated processes," the spokesperson added.

To design a community environment, Decathlon Singapore Lab has partnered with Sport Singapore to host an Active Health Lab for users to undergo a free health assessment to find out more about their current health and fitness levels. Active Health experts will also be present to provide advice and to share healthy lifestyle tips. There will also be a variety of fitness and sports programmes over the week.

Decathlon will also engage with the local communities by holding sports clinics, fitness programs and other sports events in store and at free-to-play areas. The retailer also looks to partner with ActiveSG Academies and Clubs to conduct sport-related events such as workshops, competitions and sports festivals.

The journey will be more experiential for shoppers as the Lab will allow the full range of products to be tested in the large test zones present in the store. In addition, the free-to-play outdoor area will be a place to use the products for sports. Decathlon Singapore Lab has a football pitch, a basketball court and a multi-sport zones to engage any sport lover with free sports sessions.

Lastly, it will have a community corner, essential for sports users to meet, share discuss about their sports practices in the community area. It will be a convivial corner in the lab to hang out after sports. With these three elements, Decathlon Singapore Lab aims to be a hub where sports lovers can connect, share and practice sport with the aim to integrate sports as a lifestyle.

Question 1

Analyse three (3) macroenvironmental factors and for each one of them, describe two (2) trends that could impact the success of new format retail stores like Decathlon Singapore Lab.

Question 2

Discuss the six (6) steps that Decathlon would normally follow when setting the prices of its products to be sold in the Singapore market and examine how Decathlon Singapore can establish an effective positioning in the market using the concepts of points-of-parity and points-of-difference.