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While physical stores have proven their usefulness and added value compared to the web, it is more important than ever to focus on the customer experience and create a sense of brand ownership. However, it is not always easy to find ways to bring customers together and create memorable experiences.  

Decathlon, the world leader in sporting goods, had the exceptional will to build a community and succeeded brilliantly. Accompanied by Booxi, they developed a marketplace using their stores as a gathering place for sports activities and not only as a point of purchase, resulting in a 3 to 4 times increase in the size of the average basket of their customers.

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to meet with Boris Stoyanov, Head of Technology at Decathlon Canada, to discuss our collaboration. Find out in this case study how Booxi was able to help Decathlon develop this important project and what the results were.

PROBLEM

In 2018, Decathlon entered Canadian territory. The competition was tough; the brand, which is very successful internationally, must find a way to make a place for itself in this new market. Therefore, Decathlon decides to get closer to its customers and provide experiences to its community.

IDEA

Decathlon wants to add a service layer to its offer and decides to launch a marketplace allowing its customers to participate in various sports activities in person (in the "Decadiums" which are sports facilities located in stores, in a park, in a studio...) or even online through virtual classes.

SOLUTION WITH BOOXI

When launching this marketplace, Decathlon realized that its core business was not appointment booking. After checking what was being done locally, Decathlon decided to work with the Montreal ecosystem. The connection with Booxi was made most fluidly and swiftly.

“The thing I liked most about Booxi was the team: they are driven and flexible, they listen carefully and are very attentive about our needs. Booxi is a flexible and agile company that allowed us to go fast on this marketplace development.”

The fact that Booxi offers a SaaS solution allowed Decathlon to quickly deploy an appointment scheduling solution for its customers.

Secondly, given that our solution has an accessible API, something that was not very common at the time, allowed Decathlon to build its interfaces and products on top of it.

RESULTS

In just a few months, Decathlon was able to offer appointment scheduling and reservations to its customers.

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“Decathlon Activities allowed us to diversify our image portfolio on top of the traditional products we offer to the public.”

Very quickly, results with an impact on traditional business could be measured:

• The average basket of an activity participant increased by 3 to 4 times compared to a regular basket;
• Customer satisfaction measured in-store and online has improved significantly;
• Conversion rates for participants hover around 4% to 5%, compared to 2.5% to 3% for traditional e-commerce;
• 15 000 members have been created through this platform, representing a whole new generation of consumers.