22nd January 2026
Course Relevance
This caselet is designed for the following teachers of BBA/ BCOM/BCA:
- Marketing Management:
Illustrates customer journey mapping, experiential marketing, and in-store behavioral design.
- Retail Management:
Provides insights into product accessibility, aisle logic, visual merchandising, and conversion strategies.
- Educational Psychology & Instructional Design:
Demonstrates how retail behavior models can be translated into learning loops and classroom engagement strategies.
- Consumer Behaviour:
Highlights how design, touchpoints, and environment influence decision-making.
- Teaching & Learning Methods:
Connects retail strategies to active learning, task-based practice, and scaffolding for skill mastery
.Academic Concepts
The caselet draws on established theories in marketing, behavioral design, and learning sciences:
1. Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb, 1984):
Customers learn through seeing, touching, trying, much like students learn through reading, analyzing, practicing.
2. Choice Architecture (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008):
Decathlon’s product placement, open-access displays, and testing zones shape customer decisions through nudges.
3. Flow Theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990):
The store’s design promotes exploration and low-risk experimentation—conditions ideal for deep engagement.
4. Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1988):
Decathlon reduces decision load through sport-based categorization, enhancing discovery and attention.
5. Learning Loop Models:
The retail loop “I See, I Touch, I Try, I Buy” parallels the academic progression “I Read, I Analyze, I Practice, I Master.”
Background
Decathlon, the global sports retailer, is often seen as a large warehouse of low-cost sporting goods. However, an industry visit with students to the Bangalore store revealed a more sophisticated reality.
The store is a precisely engineered learning environment built on accessibility, discovery, and experimentation. Its layout acts as a real-life behavioral design laboratory — one that educators can learn from. What appears simple is the outcome of deliberate design choices intended to lower customer hesitation, increase engagement, and inspire practice. These strategies offer insights not just for retail, but also for creating effective, immersive classrooms
Situation
Students initially viewed the store as a typical sports outlet. However, as they explored the aisles, touched equipment, and tested products in designated zones, they recognized:
• The space encourages hands-on learning.
• Customers are nudged to explore and experiment.
• Every product placement serves a learning purpose.
This observation reframed the store as a “teaching space” shaped by experience, flow, and discovery connecting directly with classroom pedagogy.
Key Interventions
Interventions for Classroom Transformation
1. Experiential Learning Zones
Like Decathlon’s “Try” areas, classrooms need:
• Debate corners
• Presentation stations
• Writing sprints
• Micro-teaching zones
These build confidence through immediate, low-risk practice.
2. Integrated Learning Pathways
Students analyze, practice, revise, and master skills within one thematic context—mirroring Decathlon’s structured sport pathways.
3. Teacher as Facilitator & Curator
Just as Decathlon enables customers to explore independently, teachers guide students through supportive learning environments rather than direct instruction alone.
Outcome
Adopting Decathlon’s model transforms:
• The classroom into a dynamic language lab
• Students into active explorers
• Lessons into experience-based journeys
This approach boosts engagement, reduces hesitancy, and increases mastery—similar to how retail design increases customer confidence and conversion.
Epilogue: Lessons Learned
- Accessibility drives engagement—whether in retail or language learning.
- Clear organization reduces cognitive load.
- Hands-on exploration accelerates confidence.
- Tiered value (Blue Products → Premium Products) parallels learning progression (Basics → Mastery).
- Experience-based environments lead to deeper, sustained learning.
Teaching Note
Learning Objectives
After engaging with this caselet, students will be able to:
- Analyze how retail behavior models inform learning theory.
- Apply experiential frameworks in instructional settings.
- Evaluate how design influences learner engagement.
- Develop curriculum using accessibility and segmentation principles.
- Map customer journey loops to academic learning loops.
Key Discussion Points
- How can retail strategies inspire classroom design?
- What makes the “I See, I Touch, I Try, I Buy” loop effective?
- How does accessibility influence motivation?
- What classroom elements can function as “High-Impact Displays”?
- How can teachers create low-risk “Try Zones” for practice?
Suggested Classroom Activities
1. Learning Loop Mapping
Students map the retail loop onto a learning process in their subject.
2. Aisle Logic Curriculum Design
Groups design a thematic unit (e.g., Travel English, Corporate Writing) using Decathlon’s segmentation model.
3. Store Simulation Exercise
Students create a “Focus Wall” or “Blue Product Corner” for a specific language concept.
Discussion Questions
- How can teachers reduce learner hesitation the way Decathlon reduces shopper hesitation?
- What improves mastery more—isolated grammar or thematic, experience-based learning?
- How can accessibility be incorporated without compromising rigor?
