Key Takeaways
Company: Decathlon — global sporting goods retailer founded in 1976, operating 1,900+ stores across 82 countries, with 100+ stores across Southeast Asia.
Challenge: Decathlon's recruitment vendor unexpectedly shut down, threatening frontline hiring across Singapore stores. Recruiters were also spending excessive time on phone screening and manual interview scheduling for high-volume hiring.
Solution: Decathlon deployed Moka AI's WhatsApp recruitment automation, integrating conversational screening, video assessments, and self-service interview scheduling into a single workflow — seamlessly connected to Decathlon's existing ATS.
Results (within one month):
- 40% reduction in average time to fill
- 685 recruiter hours saved per month
- Screening-to-interview time cut to 1–2 days
- 2,200 applications screened, 240 video interviews reviewed, 30 self-scheduled interviews completed
Background
Decathlon is a global sporting goods retailer founded in 1976, with operations in 82 countries. Since entering Southeast Asia in 2015, Decathlon has expanded to more than 100 stores across Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and other regional markets.
As Decathlon's footprint across Southeast Asia grew, efficient frontline hiring became increasingly important. They needed a reliable partner after its previous provider discontinued service. After evaluating alternatives, Decathlon selected Moka AI, an ATS platform with deep APAC expertise and recruitment automation capabilities.
The Challenge
Resumes didn't tell the whole story
For frontline roles such as Sports Advisor, resumes alone weren't enough. Decathon recruiters still had to verify key eligibility criteria, including legal work authorization, shift availability, and language proficiency.
Unfortunately, these details are often missing from resumes. Recruiters had to follow up on every application just to determine baseline eligibility before any evaluation can begin.
Telephone calls were taking up recruiters' time
Every day, Decathlon recruiters had to call candidates to verify their information, conduct initial screening, and schedule interviews. However, frontline candidates were often working during the day, making them difficult to reach.
Recruiters couldn't get timely response and had to spend hours on follow-ups. Manual communication became a major bottleneck, preventing them from focusing on hiring the right talent.
The Solution: Automating Frontline Hiring on WhatsApp
Moka AI enabled Decathlon to automate its frontline hiring journey on WhatsApp, unifying candidate screening, assessments, and interview scheduling into a seamless recruitment workflow.
Conversational screening for faster qualification
Once a candidate applies, Moka's WhatsApp agent initiates a structured conversation to collect the qualifying information recruiters actually need:
- Full name and legal work authorization
- Interest and background in sport
- Shift availability
- Language proficiency
Because screening takes place in WhatsApp, candidates complete the initial assessment simply by replying to messages, making the process easy and convenient.
This increases engagement and completion rates. Recruiters receive structured candidate information upfront, eliminating the need for screening calls and repetitive data collection.
Automated pre-Interview journey
Moka AI brought the entire pre-interview journey onto WhatsApp, streamlining everything from initial screening to interview scheduling. Once candidates pass the initial assessment, they can submit a self-introduction video directly in WhatsApp.
Decathlon recruiters review these videos to determine which candidates move forward, while qualified candidates can book interview slots themselves.
Automated reminders kept candidates and recruiters informed throughout the process. This reduces manual coordination and keeps hiring moving efficiently.
Integration with Existing ATS Systems
Moka AI supports role-level automation configuration, allowing different roles to follow different recruitment workflows:
- Frontline positions → WhatsApp automated recruitment journey
- Other positions → Existing ATS recruitment process
Moka AI seamlessly extended Decathlon's existing ATS workflows with no HR retraining or added operational overhead. For organizations using Moka ATS, native integration provides an even more unified experience.
Result
| Average Time to Fill | Hiring Time Saved per Month | Screening-to-Interview Time |
|---|---|---|
| -40% | 685 Hours | 1-2 Days |
In just one month, Decathlon screened 2,200 applications, reviewed 240 candidate video interviews, and completed 30 self-scheduled interviews.
The automated workflow slashed manual effort and accelerated regional hiring. Most importantly, it ensured Singapore stores remained fully staffed, keeping operations running smoothly without interruption.
High-volume frontline hiring can easily overwhelm recruiters. Before Moka, we were spending too much time screening candidates, and too many people dropped off along the way. With Moka AI's solution, more candidates completed the screening instead of dropping out midway, and our hiring process is finally running smoothly again.
——Decathlon Singapore
Why Moka AI
Native WhatsApp Integration
Moka AI supports native WhatsApp Business API integration, enabling end-to-end recruitment automation within WhatsApp.
Existing ATS Compatibility
Moka AI seamlessly integrates with their existing ATS platform, enabling Decathlon to enhance their recruitment workflows without replacing current systems or disrupting recruitment workflows.
APAC Expertise, Local Support
With deep APAC market experience, multilingual capabilities, and proven solutions across retail, F&B, and logistics, Moka AI helps their local teams scale hiring with confidence in Singapore.
A Trusted Partner for Enterprise Hiring
Trusted by 3,000+ companies, Moka AI continues to evolve its AI-powered recruitment solutions. Through ongoing product innovation, Moka AI helps organizations build smarter, more efficient hiring operations.
Final Thought
Decathlon's experience highlights an important lesson for frontline hiring: the communication channel itself can be the real constraint.
Moving screening, video assessments, and scheduling into WhatsApp — a channel candidates already check daily—helped Decathlon cut time to fill by 40% within a single month.
For retail, F&B, and logistics teams hiring at volume across Southeast Asia, the takeaway is a simple one: meeting candidates where they already are tends to improve both completion rates and hiring speed.
See how WhatsApp recruitment automation can fit into your hiring workflow — Talk to Moka AI Team.
