Decathlon UK shifts to marketplace model

Decathlon UK has opened its website to external vendors. The sports retailer invites new partners to join its marketplace, so customers get access to thousands of more sporting goods.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that another retailer shifts to a marketplace model. According to Mirakl, which powered the new ecommerce platform, research shows that marketplaces are growing twice as fast as overall ecommerce.

Marketplaces grow twice as fast as ecommerce.

Decahtlon Belgium already has a marketplace

By now adding thousands of new products, Decathlon can cater for a wider range of customers in the United Kingdom, improve the stock availability and open up new product categories. Founding partners include London startup Donda Cycling, UK retailer Pendle Bike Racks, and family-run yoga brand Corkspace.

The UK marketplace model is part of a wider international strategy. Another Decathlon marketplace was already launched in Belgium, where the marketplace currently accounts for 8.5 percent of all sales on the Belgian Decathlon website.

Decathlon: 1 billion euros through marketplace within 5 years

More country launches are planned in the coming months as marketplace sales at Decathlon are projected to exceed 1 billion euros across Europe within 5 years.