reconditioned and rental products

A decade ago it was Just an occasional exchange fair. Today, the repurchase and resale of sports material is one of the vertices that sustains the growth of Decathlon.

The French chain has turned the circular economy into a commercial argumenta magnet of young customers in a country eager to Chollos in reconditioned And, above all, a visible profitability lever in its global accounts and – with special intensity – in the Spanish market.

In 2013 the first ‘took placeTrocathlon‘In Spain, the first semiannual fair that had been celebrating in France from the eighties. It was the germ of the current strategy with a name that today sounds like archeology.

Five years later, Decathlon was called occasion and its frequency was increased before moving on to the current nomenclature, ‘Second life‘. The project was formalized with donation, recycling and sale of returned products.

Having had three different names in the last decade is more than evolution of sheet and paint: it is the passage of a specific and little transcendent event for the annual balance to a permanent service that already lives with the linear of novelties. And that weighs more and more in Excel.

Not that Decathlon is alone here. IKEA has its ‘Preowned’ program, Patagonia launched ‘Worn Wear’ almost a decade ago. It is part of a trend in which the Zeitgeist which proclaims the green and sustainable helps to underpin the results account.

Circular turn figures

According to him 2024 results reportthe number of second -hand items reached 1.35 million units. It is not just a volume record: that implies that each of these products has generated a second life cycle with minimal marginal costs against the production of a new item.

There are also the three million repairs made. There are two twin levers: operational capacity (1,730 workshops) and loyalty. Repair consolidated customer confidence, because the guarantee is prolonged and the perception of durability is reinforced, and incidentally, nourishes the information group on recurring failures or use patterns that can be reversed in design improvements for the following designs.

In addition, almost half of the offer (48.5%) is born with criteria of “ecodesign”, ten points more than in 2023. That is: The circle does not begin in the after -sales, but in the design. Easy to disassemble, standardized parts, transparent repair manuals … All that lowers reconditioning and prepares the land for rental models and, of course, subscription.

Even, as has happened in consumer technologyanticipates European regulations that will make that “ecodesign” a legal requirement.

In the rental market, Decathlon has a 50%share, the same as in Spain. It is an example of how circularity convinces different audiences. In southern Europe there are many occasional practice athletes:

• The Holy Week skier.
• The summer cyclist.
• He camper of the August bridge.
• Etc.

The type of user who sees the “payment per use” as a way to test, rotate and update your equipment Without having to make a great payment (bargain country) or have to store bulky objects (floor of the floor). This is another mine for the cross sale of accessories, insurance, maintenance services …

Spain, outstanding laboratory

Spain has a highly digitized type of consumer (be complex) and very familiar with the resale. Wallapop and Vinned are religion. In addition, the second -hand bike market has also raided the psychological land.

Decathlon has capitalized this habit with Its 70 circular spaces inaugurated in the last two years: large areas in its large format stores that They exhibit reconditioned without sibling them, without removing dignity in front of the new ones. Its placement, by the way, is strategic, near autophagous boxes and counters. The perfect place for last -minute impulsive purchase.

Spain is also a good country for reverse logistics for its geography and connections. Makes easy to redistribute Stock to coastal or mountain stores depending on the station. To that we must add the Tarbes factory, south of France, specialized in reconditioning bikes.

However, the album has a face B. or three:

• Delicate appraisal. The balance between what the seller receives and the margin that the retailer needs is unstable. Paying too much erodes the benefit and paying less brakes the product flow. Decathlon Test Algorithms of Pricing Dynamic that weigh local demand, seniority, aesthetic state and seasonality – a road bike is worth more in April than in October. It risks arbitrariness perceptions, something that reduces trust.
• Capacity of your workshops. The three million repairs are a force exhibition, but also a possible bottleneck. The workshops are concentrated by type of product (cycling, mountain), but other emerging sports such as paddle points require different pieces and skills. The specialized technician is key. Forming and retaining that profile will be key.
• Inverse logistics and data. Each extra kilometer in the collection of used product can neutralize a part of the savings in CO2 that Everyone proclaims in marketing. Hence the commitment to hubs urban. But the waterfall in the form of a breakdown, average time to the second sale or residual price is analytical gold … that the GDPR Maybe it does not allow you to squeeze as much as the company would like. And there can be no reputational stumble in privacy.

Thinking about 2026

That Decathlon has uploaded ten points the “ecodesign” quota in its catalog lets intuit that within a year there will be another climb so important or more. AND That will require redesign entire families of product. Not only changing materials for others Ecofriendlybut modularizing components, normalizing the screws, publishing open repair guides. That will presumably raise the costs. It is the toll.

Decathlon is also resorting to AI, according to his CIO in an interview with The Spanishto experiment with the Pricing or estimate the residual value, but the next step is to integrate external data (such as trends in Google) to anticipate, for example, the depreciation of a scooter depending on the weather, its mileage and its frequency of use. That will even allow offers to the client even before you decide to sell it. And that would close the door to informal competition.

And of course, Subscriptions. The rent for days sounds like an initial phase, but it seems inevitable that this derives in a Bundle That combines monthly fee, insurance, maintenance, guaranteed repurchase …

To get to that scenario, Decathlon Pulse – his investor arm – is tracking electronic commerce startups (it was reached probe Tradeinn’s purchase but The Catalans rejected her), Blockchain for traceability and financial that facilitate microcredits, in addition to Specialized in final product.

If all that goes well, it is possible that within a five -year life is much more important for Decathlon of what it already is today. Both in the Excel cells and in the space of stores.

Outstanding image | Decathlon

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