About Decathlon
Decathlon, founded in 1976 in France, is a globally renowned sports goods retailer headquartered in northern France and founded by Michel Leclercq. The group’s core concept is “one-stop shopping for all sports categories,” integrating sports goods research and development, design, production, logistics, and omnichannel retail. Its business covers 57 countries and regions worldwide, with 1,817 stores and over 100,000 employees. In China, Decathlon entered the market in 2003 and has opened 308 physical stores, covering 116 cities. Its online business covers over 400 cities, with local production accounting for 94.2%, and plans to achieve 100% localized production by 2026. Decathlon has its own brand matrix (such as Quechua for outdoor activities and Tribord for water sports), launches over 4,000 new products annually, covering more than 80 sports, and builds a sports ecosystem closed loop through the “product + service + community” model, such as providing sports equipment repair and free sports experience activities, dedicated to “making sports accessible.”
Client Needs
Decathlon commissioned our company to translate product manuals, promotional materials, and event materials for the global market based on the Transit platform, requiring the translation to accurately adapt to the target market’s cultural context and consumer psychology.
Hi-COM’s Approach
1.Project Analysis and Preparation Stage
- In-depth Analysis of Needs
Clarify the type of translation materials (product introduction, functional description), target audience, and usage scenarios (online or offline).
Establish a dedicated team:
Translators in sports fields such as mountaineering: need to enjoy related sports fields, such as outdoor sports, and be familiar with outdoor products;
Review experts: confirmed by Decathlon’s project managers from various sports departments.
- Terminology and Style Standardization
Establish a bilingual terminology database: integrate the proper nouns of Decathlon’s matrix (Quechua, etc.), such as “Bedroom” uniformly translated as “inner tent”;
Develop a style guide: stipulate that the copywriting should avoid colloquial or overly promotional language, and avoid using restrictive or extreme words stipulated by the Advertising Law.
2.Translation Execution and Quality Control
- Phased Translation Strategy
Product introduction: focus on truthfully reflecting product characteristics.
- Multi-round Review Mechanism
Technical review: accuracy confirmed by Decathlon’s project managers from various sports departments;
Brand consistency check: ensure that the translation reflects Decathlon’s consistent terminology and writing style characteristics.
- Delivery and Feedback Optimization
Upload the translation on time according to the construction period on Transit.
Provide a glossary and translation instructions, explaining special handling (such as cultural imagery conversion);
Iterate the terminology database based on feedback from Decathlon’s marketing department, such as adding “apse” as “vestibule.”
Result
Millions of words of translation data, with translations updated in real-time to e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, making an undeniable contribution to the localization of customer products.