Decathlon, the French sporting goods retailer with 10 stories in Australia and 1600 worldwide, has reported an increase in consumers utilising their Decathlon Bike Buy-Back program. The initiative allows customers to trade in any brand of child's bike for a credit voucher, which can be used towards any product in-store or online. The program was introduced in response to families facing financial pressures and looking to recycle unwanted bikes to purchase other sporting and recreational items.

The Bike Buy-Back program is part of Decathlon's Second Life initiative, which was rolled out across its stores in Australia late last year. The program accepts kids' bikes regardless of their brand, as well as Decathlon branded bikes. The traded-in bikes are refurbished and sold through Decathlon's Second Life section.

"A lot of consumers purchased new bikes at Christmas time and now have old bikes they no longer need. Our Decathlon Second Life Bike Buy-Back program offers the perfect solution for people to bring their unwanted bikes into Decathlon and put the credit towards other items such as school sporting items," said Romain Gravigny, CEO of Decathlon Australia.

"If you have bikes at home that you no longer need or you are looking for a newer model, then Decathlon has you covered. All brands and types of kids bikes are included. Naturally, all Decathlon brand bikes for kids and adults are eligible, mountain, commuter, road and gravel bikes," Gravigny added.

In instances where a bike doesn't meet Decathlon's strict requirements, the bike owner is offered the opportunity to donate it to one of Decathlon's aligned charity organisations. These organisations either recycle the bike or ensure it is safe for donation to a family in need.

"While we are able to buy back most bikes, sometimes we encounter a bike that doesn't meet our strict requirements. When this happens, we offer the bike owner the opportunity to donate it to one of our aligned charity organisations who will either recycle the bike or ensure it is safe for donation to a family in need," Gravigny explained.

Gravigny believes that as more people become familiar with the bike buy-back program and the broader Decathlon Second Life initiative, their inventory of products will grow, enabling more people to participate and enjoy the benefits of their innovative customer programs.

"As everyone becomes more familiar with our new bike buy-back program as well as our broader Decathlon Second Life initiative, our inventory of products will grow, enabling more people to participate and enjoy the benefits of our innovative customer programs. These initiatives are highly successful across the globe and we are delighted to be able to make this wonderful program available in Australia as well. Each Decathlon store will have an area dedicated to Second Life where people can bring in their first life Decathlon products and also purchase Second Life products," Gravigny concluded.

Decathlon, which launched in Australia in 2017 and now has ten stores across Victoria and NSW, is one of the world's largest sporting goods designers and retailers originating from France. It has over 1600 stores across the globe in 50 plus countries and more than 80,000 staff worldwide,