The French sports retailer Decathlon is revamping its 33 Belgian outlets, incorporating a system of compulsory path routes that will already be familiar to customers of the Swedish furniture giant Ikea. Its Brussels store will be the first branch with such a walking route.
A new look including a new logo, digital kiosks allowing customers to compare some 45,000 products and most strikingly, a circular shopping path: these are among the changes that will be made by Belgium's biggest sports retailer Decathlon.
"The new shop configuration puts the customer back at the centre of the shopping experience," said Gregory Crucifix of Decathlon Belgium. "We don't just want to sell products, we want to offer a complete experience. We're taking our customers on a journey where they can discover new sports, underlining the mission we've been pursuing since our creation in 1976: to get everyone moving."
The company stressed that this will also ensure a smoother flow of traffic. The Evere shop, the largest in the country at 9,300 square metres (m2), is the first to benefit from the new route within its store today. "It will be one of the first 20 of the 1,700 Decathlon stores worldwide to be transformed," according to Decathlon.
Discovery stations will also be placed in the stores. "These are digital kiosks on which you can place products, after which the screen will display all their specifications. If you place a second product on the next kiosk, you can compare the two products from A to Z," Crucifix explained.
Decathlon has already rolled out this new store concept in its Paris and London locations. The chain aims to refurbish all Belgian branches by the end of 2025, while its website and logo will also get a new look starting next week.
