Decathlon and Snapdeal announced an exclusive partnership deal Thursday to sell a wide range of sportswear and sports equipments on one of India's largest e-commerce sites. The entire range of Decathlon products would be available on Snapdeal in a dedicated brand store, with products starting as low as Rs 99.
"We believe that Snapdeal complements our strategy to make 'Sports Accessible to all' very well," Nilabh Banerji, head of Omni Commerce, Decathlon, said in a statement. "Along with our stores, our ability to sell through Snapdeal ensures we are able to make our sports products more accessible to people especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities."
The partnership comes at a crucial time when the demand for fitness products is on the rise. According to Snapdeal, sales of products in the fitness category tripled in 2015 compared to the year before.
The [sports] category has grown by 200 percent during the past year as is likely to be a high growth segment with customers becoming more fitness conscious," Rahul Taneja, Snapdeal's VP of Category Management, said in a statement. "We are confident that Decathlon's range of products coupled with Snapdeal's frictionless and reliable shopping experience will be welcomed by customers across India."
Snapdeal has been expanding its product portfolio extensively and recently added TVS Motors to its existing Motors platform, which includes Hero and Piaggio two-wheelers. The e-commerce platform allows customers to select model, colour, dealership of their choice, and apply for loans online. But Snapdeal isn't alone in the race as Flipkart recently started selling automobiles online, too.
Decathlon's official online store will continue to sell products as usual and a brief comparison of prices on both sites showed no difference.
