Global leading multi-specialist sports brand Decathlon has revealed its new purpose, to ‘Move People through the Wonders of Sport’. The strategy behind this bold new ambition is to bring innovative and sustainable sport to everyone. As part of this evolution, Decathlon is unveiling its new brand, which includes a dynamic and forward-looking identity and a new ‘orbit’ logo.
Decathlon’s North Star
Since the beginning of its journey in 1976, Decathlon has always believed in sports’ vital role in helping societies to be healthier and happier. And today, people need sport more than ever.
At the beginning of this transformation journey, Decathlon wrote its ‘North Star’, a long-term ambition to accelerate its mission for the good of societies and the planet. Guided by the North Star, a new purpose was born: Move People through the Wonders of Sport.
Anchored to this purpose, Decathlon is adopting an ambitious global strategy, which encompasses an enhanced customer experience, a strong commitment to sustainability and an overall modernisation of the company.
“This marks a very special moment in both the history and future of Decathlon. Now more than ever, the world needs sport. It has a unifying power and can improve both physical and mental health. At Decathlon, we want to have a greater positive impact on humans, society and the planet by Moving People Through the Wonders of Sport. I am proud to be working towards the North Star – our guiding light and ambition – with our teammates. It’s been incredible to see our diverse community come together to celebrate what makes us special: enabling everyone to practice sport on their own terms. I am confident that our ambitious strategy, evolving our way of doing business, will ensure Decathlon leads the sector as a unique and trusted sports brand,” said Barbara Martin-Coppola, Decathlon’s Global CEO.
A New Brand Identity & Portfolio
Decathlon’s striking new brand identity reflects the brand’s ambition while celebrating its past. Along with a dynamic blue, it now welcomes a new brand icon – ‘the Orbit’ – expressing movement, the ambition to reach new heights, and circularity, at the heart of Decathlon’s sustainable business model.
The brand is unleashing its full potential to bring sport to everyone through a new and simplified brand portfolio with 9 category specialists: Quechua (mountain), Tribord (water and wind), Rockrider (outdoor cycling), Domyos (fitness), Kuikma (racket), Kipsta (team sports), Caperlan (wildlife), Btwin (urban gliding and mobility) and Inesis (target), and 4 expert brands: Van Rysel, Simond, Kiprun and Solognac.
A Business Model Based On Sustainability
All the good that sports can do for people’s lives and societies cannot be at the expense of the planet and Decathlon aims to be a driving force towards this. It has committed to becoming Net Zero by 2050.
The brand’s decarbonization targets are (scopes 1, 2 & 3):
- 20% reduction in absolute CO2 emissions in 2026.
- 42% reduction in absolute CO2 emissions in 2030 and net zero by 2050.
Strongly engaged in reaching its ambition, Decathlon has, for the second year in a row in 2023, decoupled its growth and its CO2 emissions. The brand is working hand-in-hand with suppliers and partners to unlock sustainability all across the supply chain. With this collaborative approach, Decathlon has been working with suppliers to decarbonise processes and pave the way for new business models based on circularity and increased product life cycles.
This also means that across its range, the brand is increasing product lifespans and enabling customers to reuse, repair and recycle.
A New Customer Experience Shaped By A Digital First Mindset
Aside from this, Decathlon is harnessing the power of digital with a global revamp of its e-commerce website to provide a seamless shopping experience for customers anytime, anywhere.
The brand’s digital supply chain has been rethought with the best-in class tools and AI algorithms to enable accurate forecasting, assortment planning and stock parameters. This has already led to significant reductions in stock levels and many improvements, including decreasing transportation costs, carbon footprint and delivery time.
Decathlon is also breaking ground with new ways to embark its customers on an immersive experience, including its 3D Shopping App on Apple Vision Pro in the U.S.
In the coming months, more than 1,700 stores around the world will be refurbished with a whole new setup, offering customers intuitive navigation, increased product visibility, engaging physical and digital displays, and an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere.
Innovation at the Heart of Decathlon
Every day, over 850 engineers and 400 designers at Decathlon relentlessly invent, create, design, and try and test new materials and products. The result is a set of groundbreaking sporting solutions, underpinned by 900 patents.
The brand’s organisation is shaped by this culture and includes expert teams such as Booster Innovation – supporting local teams, Sports Lab – dedicated to the study of sports and dynamics of the human body, AddLab- a 3D prototyping centre and Advanced Design – designing the sports and experiences of the future.
Looking To The Future As One
Decathlon aims to become one of the most Inclusive organisations in the world. In 2023, the brand’s executive team reached parity for the first time in its history, and the company has made unprecedented commitments for 2026, including measuring representation, inclusion and belonging, acting on it, and setting global standards and best in class performance in DEI.
Decathlon is also building and strengthening communities such as women in leadership and associated programmes, forging external partnerships with DEI experts. In 2023, Decathlon received several industry recognitions including a 10th place in Forbes’ Retail & Wholesale category for the world’s ‘Best Employer for Women’.
A global multi-specialist sports brand catering to beginners and top athletes, Decathlon is an innovative maker of sporting goods for all skills. With more than 100,000 teammates and 1,700 stores worldwide, the brand and its teams have been working ever since 1976 to fulfill an ongoing ambition: to help people be healthier and happier in a sustainable future.
