When sports consumers demand "both value and affordability", Decathlon has found the solution.

Driven by the trends of the great health movement and emotional consumption, sports are becoming a new engine for retail growth.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first two months of this year, the retail sales of sports and entertainment products above a designated size increased by 25% year - on - year. The growth rate increased by 8.3 percentage points compared with the previous period, far higher than the 4% growth rate of the total retail sales of social consumer goods. The 25% year - on - year growth rate not only reached a new high in the past three years but also reflected the trend of the popularization of sports.

With the awakening of the national sports awareness, the consumption logic of sports equipment is also undergoing a profound reconstruction.

On the one hand, the refined segmentation of sports scenarios has led to a full - blown demand for "professional adaptation". For example, teenagers need basketball shoes with targeted shock absorption and support to avoid sports injuries during basketball training; adults doing yoga need yoga clothes that can absorb sweat and have good elasticity and fit.

On the other hand, the public's consumption concept has shifted from "price - conscious" to "value - conscious". The transparency of information allows consumers to clearly see the fabric cost, technological content, and R & D investment of a piece of sports equipment. They gradually understand that "cost - effectiveness" doesn't mean cheap goods, and "expensive" doesn't mean lack of cost - effectiveness. Spending a reasonable amount of money to buy products that are suitable for core technologies, scenarios and meet professional needs is the real "cost - effectiveness".

Facing these trends, sports equipment companies with different market positions have targeted differentiated tracks, hoping to open up growth space in their respective fields. However, pain points still exist: high - priced brands deter most consumers, while low - priced products often fail to meet advanced needs due to insufficient technology and performance.

So, is there a new way to explore besides these? Decathlon's "mass + professional" strategy may provide another answer.

Bringing top - level professional equipment into people's daily lives

In March last year, Decathlon, a global sports brand with a history of nearly 50 years, announced its global brand renewal strategy.

After the renewal, Decathlon established four professional brands separately: VAN RYSEL (road cycling), SIMOND (climbing), KIPRUN (running), and SOLOGNAC (hunting). At the same time, it refined the nine brands under the group.

The public noticed that Decathlon had changed.

First, its stores have moved from the suburbs to the city center. It has changed from "waiting for customers to come" to "going to where the customers are". Second, the store style and product display have been completely renewed. There are product areas, experience interaction areas, etc. The product categories are more refined and professional, and digital experiences have been created.

Decathlon's professional road cycling brand VAN RYSEL

These changes are all driven by Decathlon's "mass + professional" strategy, and the core of this strategy is "providing professional - level products at a price acceptable to the masses". In the past year or so, Decathlon has proved the success of this approach through a variety of products.

In the field of professional sports equipment, "player - collaboration models" have always been synonymous with "expensiveness", but Decathlon has reshaped the industry's pricing logic for "player models".

Take the CANAVERAL 900 co - branded basketball shoes jointly developed by Decathlon and Alex Sarr as an example. Its core technology fully meets the requirements of top - level competitions: the mid - sole uses Decathlon's self - developed VFOAM super - critical foaming material, which combines shock absorption and rebound. It also has anti - rollover support sheets and a non - slip outsole, making it highly professional. The adult studded football shoes co - developed with Antoine Griezmann also reach the professional competition level in terms of speed, ball - touching feeling, and lightness. Configurations that were once only seen in high - end football shoes are now available at a price of 599.9 yuan, allowing amateur football enthusiasts to easily have the professional experience of "the same style as the star players".

The basketball shoes co - developed by Decathlon and Alex Sarr

The adult studded football shoes co - developed by Decathlon and Antoine Griezmann

The launch of these two co - branded shoes is not an accidental attempt by Decathlon but a concentrated manifestation of its "mass + professional" strategy. It has subverted the public's perception of "professional products". Professional equipment should not be a "luxury" for a few people but a "necessity" within reach of all sports enthusiasts.

In addition to the co - branded shoes with top players, Decathlon also provides "professional - level performance" at "mass prices" for daily training and competition equipment, covering high - frequency sports scenarios such as swimming and running to meet the needs of consumers at different levels.

Take the ANTI - FOG small anti - fog shield technology as an example. To address the pain point of "easy fogging" underwater, Decathlon jointly developed a nano - level long - lasting anti - fog technology with its partners, which takes into account both "training practicality" and "competition professionalism". The B - FAST NANO product developed with this technology has passed the certification of the International Swimming Federation, meeting the standards for professional training and competitions. It is priced between 179.9 and 219.9 yuan, meeting the needs of different groups from teenagers to adults.

Swimming goggles displayed in Decathlon stores

In many people's minds, Decathlon is synonymous with "cost - effectiveness". Now, under the core strategy of "mass + professional", cost - effectiveness has a more vivid explanation. When sports become a lifestyle for the whole nation, brands need to provide "suitable choices" for every enthusiast instead of forcing consumers to compromise between "low - price and low - performance" and "high - price and high - performance".

The full - industry chain: the core support for "mass + professional"

In the sports retail industry, the product strategy of "balancing mass and professional" seems simple. However, if the R & D end cannot balance the technology cost, the production end cannot control the quality and price, and the terminal cannot quickly respond to the demand, the "dual - track strategy" will become an empty talk.

Why can Decathlon find a balance between "professional performance" and "mass price"?

The answer lies in its full - industry chain capabilities that have been developed over many years. From R & D, production, and procurement to terminal sales, Decathlon has achieved full - process control, which not only ensures the professional quality of products but also makes "mass prices" possible through cost optimization.

This is also the key reason why Decathlon's retail model is difficult to replicate: most brands either have R & D capabilities but lack production control or are good at channel sales but cannot break through technological barriers. Decathlon's "full - industry chain closed - loop" precisely supports the implementation of the "mass + professional" strategy.

Decathlon's R & D logic is not "technology - first" but "demand - driven". Professional teams always combine market feedback and user experience to explore technologies that are truly suitable for sports scenarios, avoiding redundant R & D of "technology for technology's sake". Thus, it can reduce R & D costs while ensuring professionalism.

This "demand - oriented" R & D model allows Decathlon's technology to always focus on "professional adaptation" and "cost control", avoiding the "technological redundancy" common in high - end brands and laying the foundation for "mass prices".

Professional technology requires stable production implementation, and mass prices depend on precise cost control. By setting up production and procurement centers in 30 countries around the world, Decathlon has achieved full - process control from "raw materials" to "terminal products", ensuring the consistency of professional quality and reducing costs through large - scale procurement and local production.

Decathlon's bicycle production line

This "full - process control" production and procurement model allows Decathlon to provide consumers with "professional - level quality" while controlling costs within a reasonable range. Finally, it has achieved the pricing of "599.9 - yuan player - model sneakers" and "179.9 - yuan professional competition training swimming goggles", proving that "mass prices" and "professional performance" can coexist.

During the exploration process, some voices misinterpreted Decathlon as "transforming to the high - end market" or "raising product prices". In fact, it is a professional reconstruction. For example, the KIPRUN 500 CUSHION running shoes have achieved a 20.4% improvement in shock - absorption performance through Mfoam technology, and the anti - slip index reaches 0.56 (exceeding the five - star standard). However, the prices of both men's and women's models are still targeted at the mass market, far lower than the same - level professional running shoes of international brands.

Decathlon's KIPRUN professional running shoes

Decathlon's most ingenious business wisdom lies in attracting users with "mass - market prices" and retaining them with "professional - oriented paths". These two seemingly contradictory strategic dimensions are connected by Decathlon's unique business logic, forming a clear brand growth path.

The trend of "professional inclusiveness" in sports

Decathlon's "mass + professional" strategy is essentially a user - centered full - industry chain practice. It uses R & D to meet "professional needs", production to control "mass prices", and the terminal to connect "market feedback", ultimately achieving a breakthrough in the industry of "professional inclusiveness". This model not only enables Decathlon to establish a differentiated competitive edge in the sports retail industry but also provides important inspiration for the industry:

Professionalism should not be a barrier but the foundation for inclusiveness: The "professional performance" of sports equipment is to meet users' needs for sports safety and experience, rather than to draw a line between "high - end" and "mass". Brands should focus on users' real needs and use technology to solve pain points instead of using technology to create premium.

The full - industry chain capability is the core moat for "mass + professional": The advantage of a single link cannot support "professional inclusiveness". Only by achieving full - process control of R & D, production, and sales can the cost be optimized while ensuring professional quality.

Brand renewal requires courage: Facing the changing consumer demand, brands should not be afraid of change. For the Chinese sports retail industry, Decathlon's exploration of "mass + professional" is not only the success of a single brand but also the popularization of the concept of "professional inclusiveness".

With the continuous release of the national sports demand, more brands will embark on similar exploration journeys in the future, and Decathlon has taken the first step.

It has proved with actions that "letting everyone enjoy the joy of sports" is not just a slogan.