Yahoo Finance Decathlon sees surge in demand for refurbished sports gear
Sporting goods retailer Decathlon has seen a 25% hike in customers seeking refurbished goods given a new lease of life under its Second Life scheme.
The initiative, which has been running for a year, appeals to consumers looking to make money go further as high petrol prices and rocketing energy bills hit personal budgets.
Since the scheme launched, Decathlon has refurbished more than 11,000 products, preventing them from ending up in landfill.
So far this year, there has been a spike in demand for the firm’s refurbished products, with an average of 2,000 orders per day for such products on its website.
The sports retailer, which has eight London stores, had hoped to reduce its carbon output via the scheme by 40,000kg in its first 12 months, but surpassed this in the months that the scheme operated in 2021 by saving 340,000kg, a figure which has leapt to 600,000kg to date.
Decathlon said that beyond its Second Life scheme, it was considering launching a buyback initiative, subscription service and even a rentals scheme to help it reduce its carbon emissions and enable its customers to choose the purchase method that suited them best.
The firm also makes use of recyclable material, such as single-use plastic bottles, to manufacture products.
Decathlon, founded in the French city of Lille in 1976 by Michel Leclercq, now has with nearly 1,700 stores across 60 countries.
The company has been run since March by Barbara Martin Coppola, the former chief digital officer of Ingka Group, the company that owns furniture giant Ikea.
