Decathlon & Revolut: €5K test that scaled

For established brands like Decathlon in Poland, finding new growth channels can be challenging. With an already loyal customer base and saturated traditional marketing, the team sought new ways to reach audiences outside their usual circle.

Together with Revolut and Admitad, they decided to test a bold idea — an “always ON” campaign without click activation. Customers who pay with a Revolut card automatically participate in the offer.

Background: why the experiment began

Decathlon was looking for additional scalable growth opportunities beyond traditional channels. The marketing team had a small leftover budget of around 5,000 euros, which they chose to invest in a test with Admitad and Revolut.

Revolut’s goal aligned perfectly: to explore Card-Linked Offer campaigns (CLO) in the retail sector and evaluate whether this model could drive new customers rather than activate existing ones.

Objectives: clear goals for both sides

The primary objective for Decathlon was to experiment with a frictionless customer experience — no activation click, no coupon codes, no extra steps.

For Revolut, the target was to validate the CLO model’s efficiency and its ability to acquire new users within a retail environment.

Both companies agreed to remove fixed CPA rules and rely solely on Revolut’s analytics — to measure, learn, and optimize on the go.

How the program was structured

Three sequential campaigns were launched, each with a test budget capped at over €5 000.

The setup was intentionally flexible:

• no fixed CPA agreement;
• no segmentation between new and existing clients;
• fully automated tracking inside Revolut’s ecosystem;
• and an “always ON” mode — meaning the campaign was constantly active, with no activation button for users.

This structure reduced friction, simplified participation, and made data collection seamless.

Results that exceeded expectations

A new user is defined as a customer who makes their first Decathlon purchase using Revolut as the payment method.

Metric	Campaign 1	Campaign 2	Campaign 3
New clients share	76.5 %	69.7 %	69.2 %
Existing clients share	23.5 %	30.3 %	30.8 %
Transactions Index (C1 = 100)	100	253	165
GMV Index (C1 = 100)	100	193	136

Key insight:

After the pilot, over ¾ of all transactions came from new users.
By the second campaign, transaction volume grew 2.5 × vs baseline, while GMV nearly doubled. The third campaign stabilized at a level above baseline, demonstrating model sustainability and repeatability.

At the moment, operations are not being continued, which is acceptable for a completed test phase.

Why it worked

The campaign’s success stemmed from three factors:

1. Flexibility. With no rigid CPA or targeting rules, the team could adapt quickly and focus on what worked.
2. Simplicity. The “no-click” structure removed barriers and created a smooth user journey.
3. Audience synergy. Revolut and Decathlon attract different users — their overlap has become a source of new growth for both.

Lessons and insights

No CLO campaign produces instant results — it takes at least three months to collect sufficient data.

However, this case demonstrated that transparency, analytics, and trust between partners dramatically accelerate learning curves.

For brands, the takeaway is clear: innovation doesn’t always need big budgets — just openness to test and iterate.

Conclusion

The Decathlon & Revolut collaboration in Poland shows how a simple experiment can evolve into a strategic acquisition channel. The “always ON / no click activation” format demonstrated measurable results, minimal friction, and a scalable future for fintech-retail partnerships.

Admitad Insight: Freedom to experiment is where performance marketing evolves. When fintech meets retail, growth becomes a shared journey — not just a campaign.