Boulder, Colorado (Brain) – For the November issue, we asked members of the retail industry expert panel: “Due to COVID-19, what long-term changes have you made to the company’s business?”
Due to this epidemic, our customer base has expanded, from the majority of hardcore daily riders and commuters to more people interested in bicycles. We see many novices or riders participate in this sport to increase outdoor sports time. We are open two days a week than our competitors’ stores, which has resulted in more new riders and various customers visiting. Because of this growth, I just opened a second location near some mountain bike trails. It already has many customers! In addition, our online sales continue to grow.
My manager has completely remodeled our merchandise sales with new slatted walls, and this improvement is increasing sales and increasing the cash conversion rate for inventory purchases. Due to the increased demand for COVID-19, we have stocked a larger number of bicycles, parts and accessories to make the products available in both places and meet the demand. We focus on reducing SKUs with high inventory numbers, thereby speeding up shopping and improving wholesale purchasing efficiency.
Earlier this year, we added an online sales platform to our website to accommodate customers who prefer to shop at home due to pandemics or just the convenient option of shopping in person. We have no other plans to make major changes to our business model.
In the past year, the biggest change in our customer base is the substantial increase in new born and reborn drivers. Most of these new customers are families with school-age children, but there are also young couples, middle-aged office workers, college students and retirees who are now working at home.
During the pandemic, the demand for bicycles, parts and accessories has surged, further consolidating our stable product portfolio based on customer demand-at least for the duration of the supply! As inventory continues to become available, we plan to restock most of the same products as before the pandemic.
One of the modifications we will make to our business model is to continue to provide customers with more online conveniences, such as booking a store to pick up goods, or a reservation service for free picking up at home, but – because we can get products – we No major changes will be made to this. Due to COVID-19, our customer base has not changed, but as more and more people explore bicycle shops outside the normal range in order to find bicycles, its customer base has increased.
Before locking, we are exploring ways to add more product lines to the store. However, after this season, we think it is a better strategy to focus on certain special products and suppliers that we have a long-term relationship with, and to lay a solid foundation for any potential growth. Pursuing sales is tempting, but we want to make sure that we also continue to provide value.
Due to COVID-19, we have more customer groups, many of whom are new to cycling, so our job has always been to teach our customers how to ride, what gears to install, how to set the correct seat height, etc. . Due to COVID, we temporarily reduced group rides because they usually attract 40-125 people, and our local health regulations prohibit this. We also arrange special nights, such as team nights and guest speakers, until everything returns to normal (if any).
Our two locations have always had a good customer mix in all types of cycling, but with COVID, the MTB segment has always been the fastest growing segment. Our middle-aged consumers come back to buy tires, helmets, gloves, etc. This makes me believe that they like to ride bicycles. Two years ago, Giant remodeled our store and it still looks good now, so we will not make any changes to the main location. We are planning to make some cosmetic changes to the new e-bike store to make it look more like our existing store and to add branding to our major suppliers.
Since COVID-19, my customer base has changed, mainly due to the addition of many new drivers seeking professional equipment for the first time. I have also seen an increase in the number of occasional or infrequent riders. The problem of increased interest has been resolved and inventory disposal has been allowed. Lack of availability is a huge challenge, which has slowed down the speed at which many people want to integrate vertically, for example, from a 6-month-old hybrid to a road bike. Currently, store activities will be restricted by local regulations, and inventory will be adjusted based on the bikes ordered and the latest information provided by the manufacturer. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have made many physical compliance changes to COVID, and these changes will remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.
Due to COVID-19, we have made major changes to personnel: due to the huge workload and business growth, we have added full-time sales staff and full-time mechanics. We also plan to add two part-time staff in late winter and early spring. Another change is that we plan to provide more participation for new customers. We will organize more “new riders” activities in winter to teach people how to repair apartments and how to ride bicycles. We are happy to see that COVID has turned our customers into happier, more excited, and happier people who are ready to learn to ride a bicycle and have fun. There are very few tired cyclists.
We are frustrated with the “partnership” of suppliers, and the lineup in our store will look surprisingly different in 2021. Our existing suppliers require us to fulfill the termination conditions of the distributor agreement, regardless of whether they have the ability to deliver the goods in full. Different sizes make it a one-way street. We can only sell so many super small bikes!
We have observed that the online ordering and physical store pickup that started during the pandemic has indeed become popular, so we plan to continue, and we are working hard to make the interaction smoother. Similarly, our in-store courses have transitioned to online courses. Traditionally, our customer base was a “curiosity adventure cycle” before COVID, but it has expanded to include more commuting riders. We are considering changing the size of night micro tours to make them safer in smaller groups.
Due to COVID-19, our customer base has become more diverse in almost every aspect. We are investing in our website to make it easier to use and more educational and enlightening for our customers. We will also focus on providing these new bicycle buyers with the parts and accessories they need. Overall, we are trying to figure out how to establish personal connections in a socially distant world. For example, large road rides may not be on the menu temporarily, but a few long-distance mountain bike riders can work. I want to summarize, our health business is accelerating the actions we have always wanted to take. Let us not forget how lucky the bicycle industry is in difficult times for many people.
Judging from the types of products sold, it is obvious that many customers are phasing out old bicycles. Many of our new customers are families and first-time bikers. We sell many large track BMX bicycles to men in their 30s and 40s who want to ride with their children. We are getting more inventory, but we haven’t changed our products much. Most of the products we provide are still based on consumer demand and supply chain constraints.
Our bricks-and-mortar stores use concierge methods to prevent many people from using our products. Many user experience and interface changes have been made to our online store, and other shipping options have been added. Behind the scenes, we continue to hire new people to keep up with the growth of online shopping. We are still holding on-site shopping events, but we are happy to host online bike events through social media and platforms such as Strava and Zwift.