Channel Mastery - Ep. 136: Jennifer Tetrick, Decathalon

Decathalon

A shifting multi-channel approach throughout the pandemic

“I do know that one of the things that's really important to Decathlon as a company is our being a responsible actor in the world and for our community.”
- Jennifer Tetrick

EPISODE PREVIEW:

Here we are, May 22, 2020. Across the globe, business is starting to ramp up again. Some countries are further along than others in this process. That made me think about the Channel Mastery network, and who I could ask who might have first-hand information on what France, Germany and other European countries are experiencing, from a retail perspective. Thankfully, we have a great person from the world’s biggest sporting goods retailer, Decathlon, a global chain that’s now in 71 countries. You read that right, 71 countries! Jennifer Tetrick, Director of PR and Communications at Decathlon, is a returning guest on Channel Mastery, and she’s a wealth of knowledge on what her company has learned from its European store operations in the past few weeks, and what beta will be brought to the states. If you’re interested in listening to her first episode, here’s the link to Episode 84, recording last spring. Decathlon is also a great example of a retailer committed to serving a broader consumer base. This is invaluable when you consider the number of newcomers we’re seeing to cycling, trail sports, outdoor, etc. More and more people are outside than ever before - and we need to know how to catch and keep them! Decathlon’s European stores are about two weeks ahead of us so it’s important to not only watch what they’re doing to safely and effectively begin to reopen but learn from them too. Jennifer touches on some of the changes implemented to ensure their staff and customers safety is of the utmost importance, the lessons they’ve learned so far, communication wins and losses, and how they’re overcoming these challenges as a company. Along with the ins and outs of the reopening of some of their stores, Jennifer also shares how their multi-channel approach has shifted throughout the pandemic, to ensure they’re not only communicating with their target consumer, but understanding how their target consumer wants to be approached.

GUEST PROFILES:

Jennifer Tetrick

Jennifer Tetrick is Director of PR and Communications at Decathlon. She joined the Decathlon team full-time after retiring from professional racing.

TOPICS COVERED:

Decathlon Sporting Goods, Reopening post-COVID, Reopening of European stores

SELECT QUOTES:

“We have been using a mix of channels that we have, and again, because in the aftermath of this, we saw user behavior change pretty significantly. We greatly reduced any paid channels to all organic channels and ways to connect with our community. So that's included everything from our email database, for our customers that already are existing, our social media channels, our social media channels, in addition to just our network of athletes and partners around the US and around the world to communicate that to their followers as well. ““We saw the desire for fitness gear and equipment, and we knew this was going to be a big challenge for us because right away we saw all of the stock being just wiped off the shelves from the online sales in Europe. That was before we had even gone into shelter in place here in the US. We basically got all of the fitness products out of the stores and to the warehouse to get ready for online shipping. And sure enough, we sold out as soon as the shelter in place went into effect here in the US.”“I do know that one of the things that's really important to Decathlon as a company is our being a responsible actor in the world and for our community.” “I think one of the things that the Decathlon has done really well is making this concept of making sports accessible to everyone and accessibility isn't just about the price point. It's also about being a safe place for people to come to ask questions, being a safe place for people to not know how to do things.”

DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT:

Channel Mastery - Jennifer Tetrick