Founded in France in 1976, Decathlon is one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world. Decathlon operates more than 1,600 stores in over 60 countries, covering sports such as football, basketball, tennis, cycling, running, swimming, hiking, camping, and many others. It designs and produces itsr own sports products under various in-house brands, covering different sports categories and price ranges.
Project Background
Since the Dublin store was opened in June 2020, and because it was considered a non-essential business, it was forced to close on a number of occasions as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown that was mandated in Ireland. However, when open, it was frequented by a high number of visitors, so needed to implement a solution that would allow it to fully comply with the safety regulations to protect employees and customers. Ensuring appropriate customer spacing, not exceeding capacity limits at any time and proper mask wearing were Decathlon’s main concerns. For months the Decathlon team worked on ways to limit the number of people in the store and even changed the traffic flow of the store by locating the entrance and exit points on opposite sides of the building. Ensuring masks were being worn was also managed manually.
It was very important for Decathlon to free up its staff from these safety monitoring tasks and enable them to focus on other work and also to minimise the error rate that could result from manually monitoring the flow of customers. As such, Decathlon decided to use cutting-edge technology to help them implement proactive measures to address these concerns. Additionally, Decathlon also had a desire to learn more about its traffic patterns and to have relevant and updated information available in terms of knowing what hours of the day were the busiest as well as the quietest.
Project Approach
After investigating numerous solutions, Decathlon decided on Interaction Care by Barcelona-based retail analytics company Beabloo. Interaction Care is an integrated system using digital signage, thermal cameras, people counting sensors, and a content management system, to coordinate messages that appear on screens. This collection of technologies measures different KPIs that detect interactions in realtime both inside and outside the physical space, whilst complying with established data privacy standards.
Outside the business, a screen can allow entry based on the occupancy density and the flow of people in and out of the retail store. It can also measure the body temperature of anyone who enters, and prioritise entry for people in at-risk groups. Inside the space, Interaction Care identifies high-risk zones and displays messages to remind people of security measures on screens. It also provides interaction data to managers so they can see which zones receive the most traffic to focus sanitation efforts on those areas.
Project Results
Following successful implementation of the Interaction Care solution, Decathlon was in a position to fully comply with safety regulations and protect its customers and employees. Beabloo’s innovative technology helped to accurately measure, as well as automatically and effectively control the occupancy levels, ensuring that capacity limits were not exceeded at any time. The technology also provided automatic detection of anyone not wearing a face mask and to automatically implement corrective actions in real time, freeing up employees from that task, enabling them to resume their normal duties.
Additionally, this solution anonymously collected a large amount of valuable data such as customer traffic, demographics and content visualisations. This information provides a valuable insight into the overall traffic experienced in store, helping Decathlon to optimise its business operations.
The Scan Partnership
Decathlon Ireland approached Scan as an end-to-end provider of digital signage solutions, having researched the Beabloo Interaction Care solution. As the leading UK Beabloo solution provider, the Scan team was able to work with mangers at Decathlon to design and deploy a bespoke network of signage screens, cameras and sensors, alongside a content management platform powered by a small form factor custom PC designed and built by Scan’s in-house 3XS Systems division.
Project Wins
Compliance with COVID-19 retail safety regulations, controlling occupancy and spacing
Cost and time savings resulting from Interaction Care automation features
Increased analysis of the retail space and customer habits based on data received
Simon Brophy
Facilities & Logistics Manager, Decathlon Ireland
"The most valuable feature provided by this solution for us is occupancy control and the displaying of this information to customers prior to them entering the store. As a new big retailer with tens of thousands of visitors a week, this digital solution is vital to ensure a smooth and safe shopping experience for all the new and repeat visitors to Decathlon Ballymun"
Jaume Portell
CEO and co-founder of Beabloo
"Our main motivation when designing this new solution was to help our clients protect their customers and employees during this unprecedented situation. We present Interaction Care as an integrated solution that uses tried-and-tested technologies to minimise the risk of contagion in any public space"
Looking to upgrade your retail stores with digital solutions?
You've seen how Scan helped Decathlon Ireland implement cutting-edge digital signage solutions for safety and customer management. Contact our expert digital signage team to discuss your retail technology requirements.
phone_iphone Phone: 01204 474747
mail Email: [email protected]
Related content
Decathlon Ireland
Learn more about how Decathlon Ireland are making sports accessible to all.
Read more >