In a market move to its sustainability initiative, sports retail giant Decathlon has reversed its branding to promote reverse selling – the opportunity for customers to resell second-hand sporting clothes and goods back to the brand.
Three Belgian cities of Evere, Namur and Ghent saw their Decathlon stores reverse their branding to ‘Nolhtaced’ (Decathlon spelt backwards) as part of a marketing campaign to promote “reverse shopping”. It will also feature across Decathlon’s social media channels and its website for one month.
People can resell their items in exchange for purchase vouchers, even if they are not from Decathlon. The voucher will be valid for two years and will help Decathlon sustain and attract new customers.
According to Decathlon, it has already collected 26,000 items in Belgium this year, representing a voucher value of over €593,000.
“The goal is to reuse as much equipment as possible to reduce the impact on our environment and avoid waste. Decathlon’s second-hand product range will also allow less fortunate consumers to buy quality sports equipment at a lower price, ” Nohltaced Belgium said in a press release.
“To continue to develop our activities in a sustainable way, we rely heavily on our buy-back service, our offer of second-hand items, our rental service and our repairs. At first glance, this name change might look like a mere marketing initiative, but our goal is primarily to make our buy-back service known to as many people as possible. The reverse selling scheme covers sporting goods from all brands (excluding underwear, swimwear, socks and helmets), which customers can sell in exchange for store vouchers.”
Arnaurd De Coster, Director of Second Life Nohltaced Belgium