French sporting goods retailer Decathlon reported price cuts, a broader selection and omnichannel initiatives helped it post its second highest sales growth in a decade in 2014.
At Decathlon France, net sales increased 4.33 percent, reflecting store expansions, the addition of three new stores, expansion of in-store fulfillment of online orders to all 262 stores in France and comparable store sales growth of 3.52 percent. Decathlon attributed good traffic growth to its continuing remodeling and modernization program, including the growing availability of in-store fulfillment of online orders. Transactions increased 6.81 percent during the year.
The retailer reported that it dropped prices on 769 items by at least 10 percent during the year and will reinvest in further discounts in 2015 to make sports accessible to more people.
The company said its focus on technical products, low prices and building customer relationship are also resonating with consumers and have been recognized by third-party research, including a customer loyalty study by ConsumerLab.
Decathlon.fr was ranked the 15th most visited e-commerce sites in France by FEVAD. The company hopes to drive more online traffic in 2015 when it rolls out touch screens consumers can use to access complete brand catalogs at all its stores in France.
