There’s no doubt that many businesses have struggled during the COVID-19 crisis, some more than others. Those who have previously invested in Ecommerce, as well as those still investing, appear to be doing much better than those that have not.
The latest example of this is Decathlon, who have seen continued growth despite the global pandemic.
Decathlon’s revenue has been reported to have grown 10.3%, with a whopping 18.3% growth in ecommerce being a key driving force behind that growth. So, it’s clear to see that investment in ecommerce has been a hugely important factor in the success of Decathlon, despite the challenging times.
Despite this growth, Decathlon does still expect to see losses of over 7 million gbp this year, however that is predominantly due to planned expenditure in infrastructure and growth planning in the UK sector, which expects to see not only a continued growth in ecommerce, but also the opening of four new UK shops – Perhaps this is a success story for ecommerce, and good news for the high street, too?
Decathlon is still expecting to return to profit in the UK during 2020 (that is, during Decathlon’s 2020 UK financial year).
The Chief Financial Officer for Decathlon UK, Alberto Bottan, explained:
“Online has continued to grow strongly (+18.2%) and we keep investing heavily in ecommerce and warehousing to help fulfil growing online demand.
“There are three elements to highlight looking forward: first of all we are very proud to have fully preserved employment during this terrible period; secondly we observe a strong acceleration in terms of urban mobility and fitness categories, where we can offer some amazing products to our customers; finally we are increasing our omni-channel capacities through innovative solutions like delivery from store or very fast, local deliveries.”
He further commented that: “Last year’s results show a trading period where turnover has strongly improved. And even if 2020 remains a very complicated year due to the Covid impact on retail, we are very confident in our ongoing performances and we aim to achieve profitability by the end of the year.
“We have invested over £200,000 in the training and development of our teams, that are at the heart of our expansion strategy. The teammates are well trained and skilled in our culture, products and the sports in which we operate. Truly, they are a major asset for us.”
