Why Did Decathlon Bring French Coffee Culture to a Shanghai Store?

French outdoor brand Decathlon opened its first coffee corner inside its Shanghai Wujiaochang store, stepping onto the coffee track. Opening-day customers who bought drinks could join a limited-edition camping cup giveaway, and long queues formed at the bar. The launch also exposed thin operational experience: the mini-program crashed and waits stretched to an hour.

The menu goes beyond regular coffee to include sports-themed drinks priced affordably, fitting Decathlon's value-focused image and its plan to give shoppers a place to rest. The buy-one-get-one promotion drove the crowds that overwhelmed the store. Whether such a crossover can last is an open question for China's crowded coffee market.

The coffee consumption boom continues to heat up, and even outdoor sports brands can no longer resist trying their hand at crossing over. French well-known outdoor brand Decathlon recently opened its first coffee corner inside its Shanghai Wujiaochang store, officially stepping onto the coffee track. During the opening period, customers who purchased drinks in-store could take part in a limited-edition camping cup giveaway, attracting a large number of consumers to come and check in. However, the bustling scene also exposed the problem of insufficient operational experience, with frequent issues such as the online mini-program crashing, store orders surging, and one-hour queues. In addition to regular coffee, the Decathlon coffee corner also launched sports special drinks that fit the brand's tone, with prices following an affordable route. Whether this kind of crossover play can last is worth watching.

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The huge potential of China's coffee market has not only prompted professional coffee brands to rush into the market, but also attracted many companies previously unrelated to food and beverage to eager to try their luck.

Recently, French outdoor brand Decathlon also took its first step into the coffee field in Shanghai — setting up the brand's first coffee corner inside its Wujiaochang store. During the opening event, customers who purchased drinks in-store had a chance to receive a limited-edition camping cup.

After the news spread, consumers keen on hunting for bargains quickly rushed to the scene to queue up and buy. Judging from the menu shared by customers on site, the product line at the Decathlon coffee corner is not limited to coffee, but also includes special drinks that align with the brand's sports DNA, and the pricing is quite down-to-earth.

Decathlon, known for its high cost-performance, has long been favored by domestic outdoor enthusiasts. The original intention of setting up a coffee corner this time should have been to give customers who come shopping a space to rest and relax, but the buy-one-get-one giveaway launched after the official opening made the on-site situation somewhat out of control.

From photos posted by netizens, customers participating in the event lined up in long queues in front of the bar, and their enthusiasm could be felt even through the screen. However, many consumers also complained about the poor on-site experience.

According to reports, the Decathlon coffee corner supports both online mini-program and offline in-store ordering. However, because the number of people participating in the giveaway far exceeded expectations, the mini-program once crashed, and in-store orders also piled up severely. Facing the unexpected situation, staff first handled part of the online orders, and then, considering the ever-longer queue in front of the bar, had no choice but to temporarily close the online channel and instead serve on-site customers who had already been waiting for an hour.

At the same time, staff also had to divert manpower to verify giveaway vouchers and hand out camping cups, causing drink output speed to fall far short of chain coffee brands. Many consumers described the scene as once chaotic and overwhelming.

It is already common for non-food-and-beverage brands to cross over into selling coffee, and the public is usually fairly tolerant of the coffee products of such crossover players, accepting them as long as the taste is decent and the price is reasonable. After all, if one wants to pursue higher-quality coffee, there are simply too many good shops to choose from on the market.

Therefore, for a "coffee transfer student" like Decathlon, whether it can make a qualified cup of coffee may matter to consumers in terms of quality, but they will not be overly demanding. Some of them are even more looking forward to getting a consumption experience completely different from chain brands in a crossover brand's coffee shop.

Decathlon happens to hit the needs of this group of consumers. The sports special drinks on the menu, highly consistent with the brand's tone, make many people feel fresh, and some netizens said bluntly that rather than spending a little money on an ordinary cup of coffee, they would rather try sports special drinks rarely seen on the market.

In addition, some netizens revealed that the brand plans to promote the coffee corner to more offline stores to enhance customers' consumption experience and let everyone enjoy a leisurely time in the store. With the advantage of its store network and specialty drinks that fit the brand positioning, whether Decathlon can carve out a place in the fiercely competitive coffee track remains to be seen.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.