Sporting goods retailer Decathlon has deployed hundreds of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) from Chinese company Geek+ in three European distribution centres.

To automate its ecommerce logistics platform, Decathlon has modernised the centres in Castelnau, France, Łódź, Poland, and Campania, Italy. They are using AMR technology to increase storage capacity, streamline logistics processes, and better serve an expanding online customer base in these countries.

The two companies have long collaborated to deliver logistics services in Asia, and this upgrade, achieved within the past six months, sees Decathlon similarly entrust the modernisation of several warehouses to Geek+.

The past two years represent a turning point in how people engage with ecommerce, and we have to provide service of the highest quality,” said Sébastien Alcasena, logistics transformation manager at Decathlon. “In Geek+, we have found a great partner with a flexible and scalable robot-based solution to meet our customers’ expectations. We look forward to continuing our logistics transformation in Europe.”

New customer expectations for ecommerce – higher volumes of orders and returns, same- and next-day delivery, and near perfect accuracy – have brought challenges for retailers and a need to address logistics bottlenecks. With 1045 stores in 25 European countries, Decathlon requires a flexible and fast supply chain, and turned to Geek+’s goods-to-person technology to optimise its B2C logistics.

“Decathlon placed special emphasis on scalability at an international level when looking for an automation partner in their search for a solution that could cope with the rapid growth and the challenges of their ecommerce business,” said Jackson Zhang, vice president of Geek+ in Europe. “Geek+ is uniquely positioned to support this objective, having a successful track record of projects in China and the wider Asia Pacific region that have permitted double-digit growth in Decathlon’s warehouse flows.”

Geek+ tailor made a robotics offering for each distribution centre using hundreds of its P-series picking robots, as well as the RoboShuttle, its tote-to-person AMR. The number and configuration of AMRs operating within Decathlon’s distribution centres can be easily adjusted to respond to fluctuations in order volumes during peak season. Unlike traditional infrastructure, the AMRs allow for flexible maintenance and modification without any interruption of service.

The upgrades made to these three centres represent the beginning of the collaboration between Decathlon and Geek+ in Europe. Given the rapid success of this project, the companies aim to identify other areas where Geek+’s AMR technology can help Decathlon deliver an ecommerce service.

Geek+ has 300 global customers and more than 20,000 robots sold worldwide. Founded in 2015, it has over 1500 employees and is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Germany, UK, USA, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.