CEO Decathlon Ukraine Florent Guillet: We have big ambitions in Ukrainian e-commerce

Florent Guillet, General Director of Decathlon Ukrainian Division, spoke about the first chain eco-store in Ukraine, the specifics of the internet-platform decathlon.ua’ work, the future of the mini-dots format, and chain’ further plans.

The Decathlon stores French chain unites over 1400 stores in 50 countries. A sports retailer entered the Ukrainian market almost a year ago – in March 2019, and in the first 10 months of operation it opened two large-format large facilities, one mini-branch and its own local online-store. Florent Guillet, General Director of Decathlon Ukrainian Division spoke in an interview RAU about work’ first results, company’ further plans and why Ukrainian-made goods are more expensive in Ukraine than in Europe.

– With what results are you completing a year of work in Ukraine?

– We are completing with the most positive results. Let’s judge for yourself, we opened the first store on March 23 in Retail Park Petrovka and within five months we decided to launch the second. This was not in the original plans.

– What caused this decision?

– The first Decathlon in Ukraine quickly became profitable, so there was simply no point in postponing the opening of the second. Moreover, it became possible to take a good location near the Lavina Mall. In July 2019, we signed an agreement with Auchan on the rental of 3,000 sq. its squares. We were lucky that both of our chains are members of the Muglier Family Association, which allowed us to quickly find mutually beneficial solutions. The new Decathlon on Berkovetskaya received two unique entrances for itself – one from the street and one from Auchan, which adjoins the corridor of SEC Lavina.

– In the spring, you also opened a small outlet in X-Park in the Park of Friendship of Peoples? Are you planning to develop such convenience stores chain or it was just an experiment?

– It was a great experiment. The store worked on weekends throughout the warm season. It is possible that such retail facilities will still appear in Ukraine. As for the store in X-Park, we are not yet sure whether it will work in the 2020 season either.

buy online a lot less in Romania or Bulgaria. We have great ambitions in Ukrainian e-commerce.

– What served as a catalyst for success from the start?

– Significant digitalization of Ukrainian society, willingness and ability to buy online played a role. Do not forget about the price. The Decathlon feature is in low price tags, even by Ukrainian standards. This is facilitated by the fact that the company does not purchase and resell goods, but produces 99% all products. And if customers rate a product in an online-store two stars or less out of five, it is removed from production and sales.

– Can you order in Decathlon.ua any products presented on the global chain?

– Everything that the Ukrainian buyer did not find in the physical store, he can order online with delivery from France. If in Europe we have more than 15,000 SKUs, in Ukraine so far there are only 6500 items of goods. Our goal is to increase the number of SKUs in Ukraine to 10,000 by 2021.

– How long is it to wait for delivery from France?

– It is in different ways, but sometimes delivery from France has to be expected up to 20 days.

– Why it happens?

– It is taken, for example, Oroks winter sports goods: it is of Ukrainian origin. But it goes through a difficult path to the store, because it can cost even higher than in Europe. Yes, Oroks are produced in Western Ukraine. But from there it is sent to a continental warehouse in France, then to a regional warehouse in Poland and then brought to Ukraine. Thus, goods are cleared for the second time – this is a protracted process, including affecting the price.

– Is it possible to somehow influence the situation?

– The more stores will be opened in Ukraine, the more sales will be, the more profitable it will be for one or another Decathlon manufacturer so that we purchase everything directly.

– What are key differences between Decathlon on Berkovetskaya and the store in Retail Park Petrovka?

– It is more than 500 sq. and it presents 26 own brands for 70 kind’ sports. In 2020 spring, we will construct on the street near “the Play Ground” store a gaming zone with autonomous lighting that will operate on solar panels. Everyone can play basketball, football or badminton on open playing field ​​7×20 m. Also, new store opened in the format, as the saying is, “eco”. We abandoned polyethylene, all bags in the store are paper or fabric. Its cost starts from UAN 7. There are no cups near coolers – everyone can draw water into their bottles or flask. All 43 Decathlon employees at Berkovetskaya sort the garbage, after which it is sent for processing to the Obukhov Pulp-Paper Mill.

– Can you somehow characterize the Ukrainian buyer?

– He is very attentive to the quality of the product, asks a lot of questions about the product. He is interested in innovation. And it is very sensitive to eco-trends. In general, Ukraine has everything to make such a brand as Decathlon interesting to the public – the sea, 20,000 lakes, mountains, pronounced seasonality. The Ukrainian sports market is very vast, and people, unlike many other countries, are fond of different sport’ kinds. And what is most importantly, they do it for pleasure, and not just for competitions.

– By what percentage do you plan to increase sales next year?

– We do not have a planned increase in profits; we will still look at results in Ukraine. If we talk about sales as a whole, then in 2018 the turnover of the entire chain amounted to $ 11 billion.

– When and where can you expect the next Decathlon store in Ukraine?

– We plan to open one or two stores in Kiev in 2020. The first of it is in the second stage of SEC Rive Gauche, and it will be two-level. We are already considering sites in other cities with over one million people. We hope to open the first retail facility in the regions already in 2021. We followed the same strategy in Romania and were very pleased.

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