An online marketplace that combines health and sport brands is being launched in the UK by Decathlon. And the brand has lofty expectations to build the international digital venture into a billion euro-plus business within five years.

It’s the sporting goods retailer’s bid to widen its consumer base and appeal by including further technical and innovative products.

In the UK, the marketplace is launching with domestic brands including London start-up Donda Cycling and Pendle Bike Racks, selling alongside international brands including Adidas and Speedo. 

France-based Decathlon, which operates over 1,647 stores internationally, with more than 40 in the UK, is also inviting new partners to join its marketplace, selling alongside its own products on its website.

Ashley Milns, Decathlon UK marketplace business developer, told Internet Retailing: “Our mission is to sustainably make sport accessible to the many and our new marketplace allows us to improve our current range whilst opening up new categories, catering for an even wider range of customers.

“We’re very proud of our in-house passion brands, and the innovation and quality they offer. However, we want to be able to offer UK customers the best choice of sports products and we believe our marketplace will achieve this”.

But the shift towards selling via a marketplace is a part of Decathlon’s key international strategy. Its first marketplace opened on its Belgian website, where related sales now account for 8.5% of its digital-based business. 

The site has been created with marketplace specialist Mirakl and its executive vice-president customer success EMEA, Luca Cassina, added: “Decathlon is a true platform pioneer. The team, driven by innovation and their desire to respond to customer demand, recognised very early on the huge value the marketplace model can bring to scale their product offering quickly".