Worried about robots replacing your job?
At Decathlon, “our biggest assets will always be our teammates who create personal relationships with our customers and users, building a lifelong community of sports lovers”
Nils Swolkien, Managing Director of Decathlon Singapore
As they see their employees as the key component to making Decathlon what it is today, Decathlon Orchard invested more than 2 million dollars in renovation and tech (100% RFID store, PAL Robotics and electronic balisage) to primarily improve the working environment and productivity of Decathlon teammates.
With the integration of the 100% RFID tagged products, Decathlon’s ‘friend’ PAL, from PAL Robotics can roam around the store,ensuring stock accuracy and automating the inventory process on a 24/7 basis.
In Decathlon’s case, robots are taking one for the team and adopting the laborious and manual part of the job scope leaving their fellow team members to do meaningful work; showcasing that they are not regular ‘sales assistants’, but sports enthusiasts ready to assist and educate fellow sports enthusiasts looking to hone their skills and fitness and at the same time developing rapport with them.
Prior to the investment, 40-50 team members would be required to count stock during store opening hours whereas PAL is able to complete the entire store within 5 hours, increasing productivity from 9 articles per hour to 12/13 articles per hour.
To further alleviate the team from manual tasks, Decathlon Orchard is also the first store in Singapore to be 100% equipped with digital balisage.
Allowing for more updated product information and prices, without the need for printing and manually trawling the isles to update prices individually.
Thanks to technology, Decathlon can continue building on their “biggest assets” and focus on building the Singaporean sports community as a team.
This focus on the team has paid off with a strong team rapport among fellow sports enthusiasts of all ages ranging from 17-75, all of whom are proficient in sports ranging from horseback archery, racket sports to watersports.
