Decathlon launches sharing platform for sports equipment

The French sporting goods retailer Decathlon has launched a new application on which consumers can exchange sports equipment. The company currently owns more than 1500 stores in 49 countries. It is, therefore, the largest sporting goods retailer in the world.

The new app is called DecaShare, and its purpose is to ensure that sports become more accessible and that people try out more sports. Daan Zijderveld, brand director at Twinkle100 says:  "Boxing, snowboarding and cycling. They are all sports that you might want to try, but don't do because you don't have the stuff for it."

Adding products to Decathlon sharing platform

Research by Decathlon shows that among 1000 respondents, one in three adults who used to exercise regularly in the past have now given up completely. A third also indicate that they have not tried any new sports in five years. No money (17.7%) and not having the right sports equipment (10%) are the main reasons for this.  Decathlon hopes to change that with DecaShare. The company itself will regularly add sports equipment (that you can borrow for free) to the app. The consumer can also add their own sports equipment themselves, either for free or for a fee. That is up to the consumer to determine.

The sports shop managed to involve the Dutch kickboxer and current Glory Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven in the app. This way, consumers are even able to borrow boxing gloves from top athletes. Verhoeven said: "Sports must be accessible to everyone and that is why I think this is a great initiative from Decathlon." The platform was developed in collaboration with digital agency TBWA \ MOBILE. The app can be downloaded as of today for both Android and Apple devices.