French Retailers' "Chinese Knowledge"

Like most retail chains, localization is also a problem that Decathlon has to achieve in order to achieve its smooth development in China.

For example, in the open shop mode, Decathlon's mature mode in France, Spain and other European markets is to buy large area of land self built shops on the outskirts of the city. The ten years and twenty years after that can be extended continuously, which is of great value to the long-term development of enterprises.

However, due to the scarcity of land resources and the restriction of policies, it is difficult to copy this model in the mature cities of the domestic market. In order to complete the market layout, it is necessary to adopt a more flexible mode of opening shop.

Heavy lease, light self built

In the view of Meng Dong,

Most of the 34 stores in Decathlon China belong to the rental stores, but only six or seven stores are purchased from them.

"We still have a lot of discussions about how to balance our local and long-term interests."

Meng Dong said.

Now, a principle inside Decathlon is that in the three or four line cities with relatively low land purchase policy and better potential for development, they will mainly purchase land and build themselves. Such stores will have a longer period of loss, while in the second tier cities, they are mainly renting shops to achieve rapid market layout and profitability.

Due to the different degrees of consumer acceptance and understanding of brands in different regions, and the different natural conditions such as climate and geography, another real problem Decathlon must face is how to adapt its products to the needs of consumers in different regions. This also requires Decathlon China to adjust itself according to the actual situation of different geographical markets.

Now, store selection and expansion tasks are handed over to stores.

Chinese standard

And in the store display, Decathlon also has its own mature system, because "anyway, for retailers, the first store must be liked."

And it's not easy to do it, Meng Dong said.

"From the beginning of the shop location, we will make corresponding requests to the development manager," said Shi Jing, head of Decathlon public relations in China. In fact, Decathlon has already established a more mature standard in Europe: Although the stores are located in the suburbs with lower rent, they must choose those areas with convenient pportation, and the storefront must have plenty of outdoor space to build enough flat parking spaces and free sports venues.

But to achieve this ideal state, we must overcome a lot of obstacles.

Shi Jing said that in European countries such as France and Spain, due to the lack of local construction land resources, the government has limited restrictions on land volume, so the storefront can have enough outdoor space to build supporting facilities such as basketball courts and flat parking lots.

But in China, such restrictions must be faced. At present, in China's 34 shops, the number of shops built in Europe according to European standards is not much.

However, Decathlon is also trying to find ways to reduce the impact of China's special situation.

For example, the expansion of the storefront and the search for alternatives, according to Meng Dong's introduction, last year, Decathlon expanded the small outdoor flower shops in Shanghai, expanding the area from 2500 square meters to 5000 square meters, and moved more store space to build facilities such as indoor basketball hall, table tennis table, bicycle lanes and other facilities, while the Xhenzhuang store in Shanghai, which had a small outdoor parking lot, then increased the number of underground parking lots and parking spaces.

{page_break}

All these need to sacrifice the cost of the storehouse's efficiency.

For example, a standard table tennis table with a width of 1.5 meters should be placed between the aisles of the rack, and let the experiencer and other customers not interact with each other. The width of the aisle should at least extend to more than 5 meters.

In Decathlon shops, there is a need to set up a trial area for all sports products. According to the introduction of Meng Dong, Decathlon has no special requirements for store efficiency.

Similarly, in store

In order to enable customers to completely self-help consumption and not fall into the blind area of information, almost all products are equipped with a detailed product description manual. Besides the routine information such as brand, origin, size and applicable crowd, the brand and corresponding functions of upstream raw materials will also be marked. For example, the materials marked by Novadry are waterproof and breathable, while Equarea is a sign of hygroscopic and quick drying properties.

Detail experience

"In most cases, experiential marketing is induced, and we hope that these details will enable consumers to feel our professional and additional services, thereby contributing to sales."

According to Zhong Ming's introduction, customers try products at will, or try some sports or products in the experience area and playground. They belong to the category of "static experience".

Besides, as a store manager, a very important part of his daily work is to plan and organize "dynamic experience" regularly in the store, such as theme activities, such as teaching children to dive on weekends, providing free diving equipment to children, or engaging with rock climbing clubs to hire professional athletes to teach you to experience rock climbing. Such activities are generally not linked to sales.

"With a good terminal experience, it is natural demand to come again." Meng said that by relying on the experience of the terminal and establishing a brand by word-of-mouth, Decathlon has tasted many sweetness. In the Decathlon stronghold, the Decathlon brand has surpassed IKEA and Coca-Cola in the "100 favorite French companies" in the local echo.

But it has not yet been so courteous in the Chinese market. In fact, there are many consumers in Decathlon brand.

In the view of Meng Dong, the final change of this situation depends to a large extent on the expansion of the number of shops. "After all, the storefront is the best publicity and support for the brand". As of the end of April 2011, the number of shops in Decathlon in France was 239, which is 7 times that of China.

And with the increase in the number of stores in Decathlon, Meng Dong began to adjust the organizational structure of China. In 2010, Meng Dong set up three large areas in North China, Southern China and East China between China's regional headquarters and regional markets. "Now a region manages a store, but in the future it will manage seven or eight stores, and everything can't be decided by headquarters."