RFID Decathlon – How the Retail Giant Optimizes Asset Management

RFID Decathlon – This is how the French retail giant has applied it to optimize asset management, track and inventory goods, and enhance the customer experience. So how is RFID Decathlon used? The information in the article below from IT Nam Viet will help you answer this question.

Introduction to Decathlon

Decathlon is a French sporting goods retailer. The brand, originating from the “hexagon” country (France), states it has over 2,082 stores across 79 countries and regions (2024). In Vietnam, Decathlon has been present since 1995, initially in the form of collaborations with product suppliers. Currently, Vietnam is the brand’s second largest manufacturing market, after China.

With such a vast product range and global presence, Decathlon faced a significant challenge: ensuring customers could always find the products they wanted in Decathlon stores. To address this issue, the corporation turned to applying RFID technology instead of using barcode technology as before.

RFID is used by Decathlon in fixed asset management, tracking products throughout the supply chain, improving inventory levels, and enhancing the customer shopping experience.

Regarding this issue, another retail giant, Walmart, also utilizes RFID technology in its business operations. For more details, you can visit: “Walmart Effectively Uses RFID Technology in Retail and Supply Chain“.

Decathlon – A 15+ Year Journey of RFID Technology Implementation

Here’s a 15+ year timeline of Decathlon’s RFID solution implementation in asset management:

2008: Launched the first RFID application test in France. At that time, Decathlon was trying to find ways to simplify asset and inventory management and enhance the customer experience. The idea of using RFID was immediately implemented in the company’s operations.

2011: Testing at 9 stores and 9 warehouses across Europe.

2013: Decathlon became a pioneer in integrating RFID tags into product manufacturing.

2014: RFID became a strategic solution for the retail giant Decathlon. RFID was comprehensively deployed across all processes, from product manufacturing to sales, inventory checks, supply chain management, etc. However, in reality, some RFID tags did not work well on certain items, so Decathlon adjusted packaging, redesigned products, and found the most suitable solution.

2016: Decathlon’s RFID application project was recognized as one of the largest and most influential projects in the retail industry at that time.

2019: 100% of Decathlon products are now tagged with RFID during manufacturing at the factory. This is a historic milestone, a first in the world of retail.

2021: Payment is possible anywhere, inside or outside the store, with staff equipped with RFID tag readers and payment card readers, enabling contactless payments.

2024: Decathlon has equipped all of its global retail brand units (factories, warehouses, stores) with RFID devices, totaling 50,000 RFID readers. In particular, RFID tags are activated by radio waves emitted from RFID readers, a choice that is part of Decathlon’s environmental protection approach to minimize the environmental impact of technology.

Decathlon’s main goal is to ensure that if a customer wants something, the store has it. Simply put, they don’t want to lose any customers, even just one. Decathlon’s use of RFID also helps encourage users to experience contactless, fast, and convenient payments. Decathlon has integrated RFID solutions into its supply chain management to never disappoint customers.

Challenges in Fixed Asset Management at Decathlon Vietnam

Decathlon Vietnam was established in 1995, employing a workforce of over 16,000 people and operating 8 factories. Decathlon Vietnam is known as a pioneering enterprise in applying advanced technology in production, with a focus on building a highly skilled workforce. Products manufactured by Decathlon Vietnam are exported to markets such as the United States and Canada.

Decathlon Vietnam has applied RFID in fixed asset management with over 30,000 RFID tags, 8 fixed control points, and 8 handheld RFID readers to manage all production equipment across 8 factories.

And why did Decathlon Vietnam decide to use RFID in company asset management? It stems from the following reasons:

• Due to frequent machinery relocation, the actual positions of machines on production lines often change and differ from the information in the ERP software. This requires a significant amount of time and effort to locate the necessary machinery for each new production run.
• Additionally, all of Decathlon Vietnam’s assets are currently identified using QRCode labels. Inventory checks require employees to use QRCode scanners to scan each label, which is time-consuming and prone to errors.
• Decathlon Vietnam’s current ERP software only provides high-level aggregate asset reports and lacks functionality for employees to track, update, and manage machine maintenance information, which affects factory production line operations.

Therefore, at this point, using RFID labels for company fixed asset management is essential, offering significant benefits to the business.

Decathlon’s RFID Technology Application Solution for Asset Management

Decathlon Vietnam currently uses an ERP system to manage business operations, including warehouse management, supply chain, and sales. The identification of goods or assets using barcode technology has certain limitations in the asset inventory and management process. Furthermore, with barcode technology, inventory check times are longer, leading to increased labor costs, and accuracy does not reach optimal levels, causing difficulties in demand forecasting and inventory management.

The solution at this point is to build an RFID-based goods management system (TMS). The TMS is integrated with the existing ERP system but converts the identification of goods from barcodes to RFID technology to achieve the following main objectives:

• Maintain the current IT system model, goods flow, and existing business processes, avoiding disruption and minimizing implementation costs.
• Shorten goods inventory time at warehouses and stores by 95%.
• Increase the accuracy of goods data to at least 97%.
• Synchronize and display data in real-time, supporting rapid and effective decision-making.

Benefits of RFID Application in Asset Management

By implementing RFID in asset management, Decathlon Vietnam has realized the following benefits:

• 95% reduction in asset inventory time: RFID enables the batch scanning of tags, allowing employees to quickly inventory all factory assets in just a few minutes.
• 30% savings in asset search time: RFID allows for the rapid scanning of numerous assets remotely, enabling precise asset location, reducing search time for machinery needed for production lines by up to 30%.
• Accuracy improvement to at least 97%: RFID minimizes errors from manual scanning, and data is automatically updated, ensuring high accuracy and reliability.
• Real-time data synchronization and display: Information on asset location, quantity, and status is continuously updated, enabling employees to monitor factory and warehouse conditions anytime, anywhere.
• Optimization of automatic search and counting in asset import-export-transfer operations.

How Decathlon Uses RFID in Supply Chain Management and to Enhance Customer Experience

“Currently, Decathlon has deployed RFID technology extensively and comprehensively to automate production processes, optimize its supply chain, and enhance customer experience.

RFID in Decathlon’s Supply Chain Management

RFID tags are attached to products directly from the manufacturing plants, allowing for real-time tracking of the entire goods transportation process. This enables Decathlon to accurately grasp the location and status of each shipment, providing a basis for developing strategies, optimizing transportation processes, and minimizing goods loss or damage.

RFID in Decathlon’s Warehouse Management

RFID in warehouse management helps automate the inventory check process, minimizing time and personnel costs. Of course, the collected data also serves as a foundation for Decathlon to assess inventory levels, avoiding shortages or overstock.

RFID Application in Enhancing Customer Experience

Decathlon has installed an RFID technology-based payment system, accelerating the payment process. The system includes an RFID reader placed at the checkout counter. When a customer wants to pay, the cashier simply scans the products over the reader to capture the product’s RFID ID, eliminating the need for the traditional barcode system. This helps customers feel satisfied with the service and encourages them to return for future purchases.

On the other hand, thanks to the application of RFID, Decathlon will always ensure that their products are on the shelves, meeting all consumer demands. Additionally, the use of EAS-RFID gates at exits helps check if products have been paid for, minimizing the risk of theft. Moreover, with the RFID solution, store staff can use handheld RFID scanners to quickly find products on the shelves.

According to a Decathlon representative, RFID provides them with significant benefits, especially in inventory tracking and consumer demand collection. Thanks to RFID, full store inventory checks can be performed regularly, approximately every 4 weeks, instead of twice a year as before.

The above information provides a basic overview of RFID at Decathlon that retail businesses can reference and apply. If you need consulting on RFID technology, please do not hesitate to contact IT Nam Viet via Hotline (+84) 962.888.179. We are ready to assist you 24/7, providing solutions tailored to your needs and investment budget.

Lê Nam Việt

My name is Le Nam Viet, currently FOUNDER & CEO of Nam Viet IT Company, I graduated from Ho Chi Minh Polytechnic University. I have more than 3 years of experience providing RFID chip technology solutions, RFID scanners, barcode labels and barcode readers. It’s a pleasure to share my knowledge with readers.