Decathlon in talks with Indian Government to become multi-brand retailer
04 March 2023, Mumbai
Decathlon, the French sportswear brand, is currently in discussions with the Indian government to allow it to retail products from other brands in its brick-and-mortar stores in India. This move would make the company a multi-brand retailer, which is the model it operates in several other countries.
Decathlon has been operating in India for some time now, but they have only retailed their own labels so far. This is because the Indian Foreign Direct Investment regulations prohibit 100% FDI in business-to-customer multi-brand retail. This means that international businesses must either partner with Indian companies for their B2B multi-brand operations or cater exclusively to the business-to-customer market. The government has implemented this policy to prevent foreign brands from undermining local businesses.
Decathlon believes in offering the widest choice of sporting products and categories will benefit consumers, including products from other local and global brands. Therefore, they are requesting that single-brand retailers in India be allowed to offer up to 20 per cent of their inventory from other brands across their sales channels.
