Decathlon launches ecommerce website in Switzerland

French sporting goods retailer Decathlon have launched a dedicated ecommerce website in Switzerland. Just a few days before Christmas, consumers in Switzerland can now order cheap sports clothing and accessories online.

Decathlon sells products for over 70 different sports in physical stored as well as online. The international retailer is already widely available throughout Europe, but just launched the Swiss online shop.

Swiss newspaper Blick quoted Otto’s CEO, Mark Ineichen, who said that if chains like Decathlon come to Switzerland, “we (local discount competitors) would all have a problem. They are much more aggressive than we are”, he explained.

Decathlon Switzerland won’t ask a shipping fee for orders over 120 Swiss francs (€112), otherwise the customer needs to pay an additional 5.9 francs (€5.5). The retailer will ship in five to six days, with delivery done by DHL. Consumers can pay with credit card, PayPal or bank transfer. Delivery on account is not possible.

‘Website still in the test phase’

Decathlon explained the Swiss ecommerce website is still in a first test phase. And with the help of comments and feedback from its customers, the company wants to further optimize the website. And digital business blog Carpathia calls the online store of Decathlon in Switzerland ‘rather disappointing‘. “A quick check was hardly possible, because the website loads extremely slow. And when the site does run sometimes, in a few click you end up on a 404-page.”