Decathlon and Payer Strike Deal for Digital B2B Invoicing

Decathlon, a chain of department stores that operates throughout Europe and says it stocks equipment for some 70 sports, will use a digital B2B invoicing platform from Payer, the technology company announced Wednesday (June 29).

The announcement suggests the technology will help Decathlon serve sports clubs in Sweden, which is Payer’s home country.

“Sports clubs around Sweden are an important customer group for us. With Payer’s solution, we can simplify invoice management for them. In addition, we can automate the handling of all invoices against companies, which will save a lot of time and money,” Guillaume Pigeard, head of retail and B2B at France-based Decathlon, said in a prepared statement distributed by Payer.

Payer Chief Executive Peder Berge said in a prepared statement: “Digitization in eCommerce in general has not come as far on the B2B side as in B2C. At the same time, customers’ expectations of having just as simple and smooth shopping experiences as on the consumer side are increasing.”

Decathlon was founded in 2007. The company has 1,600 stores in 69 countries, its website states. The company recently opened in Emeryville, California, a location it said was its first full-size store in the United States.

In April of this year, Payer announced a deal with merchant bank Resurs Bank under which the bank may use Payer’s API in its offerings.

Read more: Payer and Resurs Bank Partner to Serve Nordic Retail Market

“[Payer shares Resurs Bank’s] ambition to be able to serve their merchant base with innovative payment products that are matching both present and future business models in the digital space,” said Payer Director of Partnerships Daniel Brännström in a prepared statement. “By entering into this new partnership with Resurs Bank, we will be able to serve businesses with completely new subscription solutions to accelerate the growth of the circular economy across the Nordics.”

The Nordics region consists of: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, as well as the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.