Chinese AI and robotics provider Geek+ is working with French sporting goods retailer Decathlon to develop a joint smart sports logistics lab.

An MoU between the two companies was signed this month by Yong Zheng, founder and CEO of Geek+, and Bruno Thellier, transformation leader at Decathlon during a ceremony at the China International Import Expo.

Under the MoU, Geek+ and Decathlon will jointly explore applying robotics and software technologies to the supply chain, setting a benchmark for the environmental-friendly and sustainable smart future of the sports retail industry.

Geek+ will contribute its latest automated mobile robot (AMR), AI algorithm and software, while Decathlon China will focus on strategic supply chain innovation design and land innovative initiatives on its global operations. Both parties will also invite ecosystem partners, including players in software, IoT and 5G sectors, to join the group and work together to build a global dynamic engine to drive fast and sustainable industry evolution.

“Decathlon and Geek+ are like-minded partners,” said Zheng. “We are impressed by their determination to innovate, their vision and decisive actions, which have made Decathlon an industry leader in supply chain innovation. We’re excited that Geek+ will continue to empower Decathlon in their high-growth future.”

Thellier added: “Technology changes the world. Geek+ and Decathlon are collaborating together in all of our logistics parks in China and we have already achieved game changing in sports retail logistics. Today with Geek+ we are creating the first construction block of an open ecosystem and we believe that the lab will empower our enterprises, will stimulate more market vitality, and will allow more added values in the sports retail industry thanks to the technology.”

Decathlon is a pioneer in applying RFID technology in retail, and has taken an early lead among global retailers in adopting intelligent automation. Geek+ and Decathlon have collaborated in numerous sites in the past three years, including implementing remote deployments at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, accelerating Decathlon’s automation programme.

To date, Decathlon has completed the picking automation of all its China warehouses and kicked off the replications in its global warehouses. The robotics warehouses powered by Geek+ have enabled Decathlon to triple the average productivity of labour with an RoI of under three years.

Geek+ has 300 customers and has deployed more than 10,000 robots worldwide. Founded in 2015, it has over 800 employees and is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Germany, UK, USA, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Decathlon was founded in France by Michel Leclercq in 1976. It has opened more than 2000 stores in more than 60 countries and regions. The company has its own industry value chain with product design, R&D, production, passion brand, logistics and retail. In China, Decathlon has settled in more than 100 cities.