Influenced by Jia Ling, I have been working out recently.
In the process, I found an interesting thing. Once people are ready to start a new sport, it is easy to impulsively spend and buy all kinds of equipment first.
When it comes to buying sports equipment, you have to talk about such a place. They can sell more than 10 billion a year, and are nicknamed the paradise of straight men, the paradise of poor ghosts, and the IKEA of sports.
This company is called Decathlon.
Their latest news is that Zhang Xiaoyan, known as lululemon's No. 1 employee in China, has joined Decathlon China as CMO, and it is estimated that he will have to work harder. Nine years ago, it was proposed to open 500 stores, but now there are only more than 300, and the gap is quite large.
But recently, the discussion on Xiaohongshu has become more popular, and in a way, the acceptance of young users has increased. We'll have to see how it helps with sales conversion.
My interest in Decathlon is not in the cost performance, but in the experience.
It's not just about a trial. It's about having a scene and an atmosphere. The scene must have space to be built and the atmosphere to be created. In this way, experience before you buy, and the conversion efficiency is higher.
I call this an experience-centric differentiation strategy.
The official has also expressed a similar point of view, which means: from a traditional shopping mall to a full-scale dynamic with user needs as the core.
This time I'm going to talk about this topic, what to do about experience-centric.
The first card: insist on using experience to inspire users to feel satisfaction in sports
To sort it out, the needs of entry-level sports players are roughly like this:
I want to buy equipment, but I don't know what to buy, I can buy it all at once, what if the equipment is too expensive or not suitable, how to avoid pitfalls.
Decathlon solves this pain point with an experience-centric strategy.
How to build an experience scene?
1) Lots of SKUs
There are more than 30,000 kinds of goods, and you can buy equipment here for almost all kinds of sports.
For example, I have been particularly interested in fishing recently, but I don't know what to buy for fishing, where to buy complete equipment, fishing rods, sunscreen hats, clothes, tables, chairs, etc., in Decathlon one-stop solution, save money and time.
2) Display by scene
Table tennis, football, basketball, and golf each have their own special experience areas, and Decathlon will build a use scene for you to sell whatever product you want.
For example, like archery, there is also a complete operation guide, and the table tennis is placed on a table, and two people can play on the spot.
3) Give customers enough freedom
Create a relaxed and happy atmosphere, so you can play table tennis, archery, golf, basketball, and play until you are satisfied.
On the one hand, there are few service personnel, and the operating costs come down, and the users are not disturbed. On the other hand, cut out a larger proportion of the space as an experience area.
Taking a 4,000-square-meter store as an example, the proportion of experience area space should be 15%.
Using the above 3 points to build an experience scene has a decisive role in converting beginner players.
According to their data, 70% of people who have experienced it will choose to buy the product, which is 5 times higher than if they did not.
The key point for Decathlon to find a differentiated competitive advantage: the core of sports products to stimulate purchase is to experience satisfaction.
On the other hand, why do some offline stores do not do well in traffic and conversion?
The essence is that the experience is not done well.
I have been to many stores that sell cosmetics, and when customers walk in, the sales will immediately follow up and even force orders, which will put great psychological pressure on customers.
A better option is to give the customer the opportunity to try a variety of new cosmetics freely, the whole process is easy and enjoyable, and he will naturally place an order if he feels that the effect is good.
A relaxed, free, and happy experience is the key to offline sales conversion.
Why set up a free experience scene?
Increase the length of user stay.
The longer the user stays, the higher the conversion rate. This is the same as the logic of the short ** platform to retain people with content, which can make users stay longer, and the algorithm will give you more traffic.
For example, IKEA, there are enough home scenes for people to walk in for hours, and they can eat when they are tired of shopping, as well as Sam's Club tastings and so on.
The second card: private domain operation to do post-transaction extension services
Let's sort out the user needs again: many times I want to exercise, but I can't find a partner, no one accompanies and no one to take it, and it is shelved after a long time.
Decathlon has done one thing: to provide users with a team platform in the way of private domain operation.
Each of his stores has *** users enter different communities according to their favorite sports.
For example, if I've been interested in frisbee lately, but can't find a teammate, these communities will hold regular frisbee events, and I can just sign up for them.
The group will also regularly post relevant expertise.
For example, how to run without hurting your knees, what should you pay attention to when fishing, how to choose a venue for outdoor camping, etc., **When new products are new, they will also be notified in the community as soon as possible.
Why does Decathlon bother to make a private domain community?
Essentially to increase the repurchase rate. Human nature is lazy, and sports and fitness are against human nature.
Many people are just impulsive, and they don't use it at all after buying equipment and going back, Decathlon will organize activities to invite you to participate and do the service after purchase.
The more frequently users participate, the greater the probability of repurchase.
Decathlon is equivalent to extending the experience scene from the store to the sports field. Use the private domain community to interact with users from offline to online, improve stickiness and brand awareness, and stimulate the desire to buy.
There is value in doing so, judging by these few data:
In December 2023, 75% of Decathlon's sales come from members, and 70% of old customers repurchase it. The scale of private domain fans exceeds 10 million, and the unit price of customers in the private domain is 3 times higher than that of ordinary members.
Decathlon has turned the private community into countless sports clubs. Tens of thousands of activities are held every year, and hundreds of thousands of people across the country participate.
Finally, to summarize Decathlon's style of play:
Experience scene construction User on-site experience User purchases goods Users enter private domain communities Participate in community activities Continue to repurchase multiple times.
Enterprise growth comes from the differentiated strategy of operation, high repurchase + high customer order can bring greater increment. These tens of millions of fans in the private domain are the basic plate of Decathlon's potential growth. Author: Operating Dog Work Diary.