Innovation that benefits people often starts with the simplest of objects; in this case, a “revolutionary” sticker. Small and rectangular, it has an integrated electronic chip. This label is called an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag. At international level, Decathlon is the most progressive retailer in terms of its use.

The principle behind this chip is straightforward: it is fed by a special reader so it can communicate and provide its own unique identifier. The tags can be read from up to a metre away, in hundredths of a second and even through boxes.

Being a vertically integrated company, we research, design, manufacture, market and retail our own sports merchandise. Having to manage logistics, inventory and tracking of the thousands of products we produced, we looked for a game changer to overcome these challenges and streamline the complexities efficiently.

We decided to adopt the RAIN RFID in 2008, a wonderful technology to uniquely identify our products. By 2014, the solution was rolled out in all Decathlon processes, including warehouse and retail store inventory, earning recognition for the most extensive use of the technology in retail. Since 2019, we tag 100% of products at manufacturing level and we are using over 50 000 RAIN RFID readers between worldwide factories, warehouses and stores.

The first trials conducted by Decathlon began in France in 2008. Around thirty engineers went on to make this technology viable on a practical basis within the company. In 2014, RAIN RFID was rolled out on masse as part of all Decathlon processes. This meant that 100% of Decathlon products were bearing an RAIN RFID tag by January 2019.

The biggest challenge was to incorporate the RAIN RFID tag on certain types of products, as labels don't tend to work particularly well on contact with water or metal. Considerable imagination was called for in order to find solutions, so tags could be attached to suitable surfaces. In some cases, teams had to adapt the packaging and sometimes even review the design of the product itself.

This was a project that required input from many partners, as well as Decathlon departments, so as to be in a position to deliver all products with RFID tags.

Currently, all company structures worldwide (factories, warehouses, stores, etc.) are equipped with tools designed to read RFID chips. There almost 50,000 readers, most of which are designed and produced by the company, and which cover the entire chain, from manufacturing through to store checkout.

Collecting information at all stages of the product life cycle provides valuable pointers for designing and manufacturing more sustainably, as well as lending credibility to our claims regarding origin and eco-design. Decathlon traceability system aims to guarantee our eco-design rightness, sustainable claims & CO2 evaluation. By tracing product return cause, we can refine feedback to make better products.

Our priorities include supporting new business models linked to the circular economy and developing traceability for our raw materials, right from their origins to ensure efficient recycling processes. It implies letting our customer live an augmented journey thanks to differentiated product information.

Let’s share in total transparency any traceability information to let Decathlon be recognised as transparent and responsible by customers and NGOs