Recently came across these photos of Superb Bicycle and I was very impressed by their merchandising, interior design, and branding. The shop is located on Beacon St. in Boston and also sells their goods online.
Designed by OZIIO, Superb Bicycle focuses on fixed gear and urban riding.
Images via Glam Shops
Recently, I had someone ask me what I look for when checking in a bicycle for repair. A list so nothing would be missed and the opportunity to up-sell would arise. So, here it is, the master list of information I like to look through when taking a bike in.
THINGS TO ASK THE CUSTOMER:
Name?
Phone?
Email?
Best way to contact? Phone? Email? Text? Tweet?
Address?
When do you need the bike back?
Which of our menu items would you feel suits you best?
Any odd sounds? Clinks? Clanks? Rubbing?
Anything feel weird or uncomfortable?
Any pain in your body when riding?
Where have you ridden it since your last service?
How many miles since your last service (estimate)?
Do you have an event coming up?
What is most important to you: speed or comfort?
ITEMS TO CHECK ON THE BIKE:
F. Tire: tread wear, cracking
F. Rim: trueness, pad burn, cracking, swelling
F. Spokes: loose or snapped
F. Hub: lateral play, stickiness, QR loose
F. Rotor: wear, warped
F. Caliper: pad wear, cable fray
Fork: compression/rebound not responsive
HT: cracks at TT and DT junction
Headset: fore/aft play with fork
Stem: not straight, bolts loose/uneven
Handlebar: not center, odd rotation
Computer: Not working
F. Light: Not working
Bar tape/grips: wear
Shifters/brake levers: squishy, loose, difficult to move
DT: bottle cage loose, broken
BB: cracks at DT, CS, and ST junction
Crankset: lateral play, loose bolts
Chainring: loose/missing bolts, worn teeth
Chain: stretch, how many miles?
Pedals: sticky, rusted, bolts stripped
F. Derailleur: Not shifting properly, cable fray
ST: bottle cage loose, linkage sticky, cracks at TT/SS junction
Seatpost: over max height, scratched, not dropping
Saddle: sagging, rails loose, material wear
SS: Shock compression/rebound not responsive
R. Light: Not working
R. Caliper: pad wear, cable fray
R. Rotor: wear, warped
R. Hub: lateral play, stickiness, QR loose
R. Spokes: loose or snapped
R. Cassette: play, worn teeth
R. Derailleur: Not shifting properly, worn pulleys, cable fray
R. Rim: trueness, pad burn, cracking, swelling
R. Tire: tread wear, cracking
Want more? Take a look at Leading Out Retail. This book is a creative look at bicycle retail and teaches retailers simple strategies on how to increase profit through service, what the most important question to ask every customer is, and how to manage the dreaded Timmy Factor.
As the bike industry is just beginning to move their catalog of goods online, practically the entire floor of a running store is filled with items that can be purchased from the manufacturer websites- and in many cases it can be found cheaper. In many ways, how a running store is operated today could be a blueprint for how bike retailers may have to operate in the future. So how do running stores stay afloat when everything they sell can be purchased from a phone?
A Nike retail store in France.
When I ask IBR owners and managers this question, a popular response is that running stores can survive because there are more people running than cycling. They believe the customer base of runners is so much larger that they can work on massive volume. This thinking may be incorrect. Running participation in the US is nearly identical to cycling. In a 2013 study done by the National Sporting Goods Association the number of people participating in cycling or running activities was very similar, with 39.3 million people cycling and 40 million people running. The NSGA classifies participants as those who ride or run at least six times during a calendar year. The NSGA then takes the total number of participants and breaks it up into three categories: frequent, occasional, and infrequent.
Total participants (in millions):
39.3 cycling, 40.03 running
Frequent, more than 110 days per year:
5.35 cycling, 9.22 running
Occasional, 25-109 days per year:
18.55 cycling, 18.56 running
Infrequent, 6-24 days per year:
15.41 cycling, 12.23 running
While the number of runners and number of cyclists may be similar, there is one reason many bike retailers will call out when they are compared to a thriving running stores. There just are not as many running retailers as bike retailers and therefore the running stores command a larger portion of the market. In this instance, they are correct.
According to Leisure Trends Group there are more than 1038 specialty running stores in the US, compared to just over 4000 independent bike retailers. Though it should be noted that Leisure Trend’s numbers only reflect specialty stores, they do not include everyone who is selling running shoes. Those 1038 stores represent approximately 22% percent of all running shoes sold, the remaining 78% is split amongst online retailers, general sporting goods stores, and discount stores. In a similar fashion 74% of bicycles sold in the US are sold by department stores and discount stores.
Do you think bike retail and running retail are similar? Are they the same customer base? Do they have the same challenges ad opportunities?
Please remember to comment and share. Thanks- Donny
Check out my book. Leading Out Retail is a creative look at bicycle retail and teaches retailers simple strategies on how to increase profit through service, what the most important question to ask every customer is, and how to manage the dreaded Timmy Factor.
Should a retailer open their doors earlier or later? Open or closed on Sunday? Retailers are always testing their hours of operations but this may help end the trial and error.
Choosing hours of operations is based on a number of factors including the shopping preferences of customers, potential sales, and fixed costs of staying open. Managers also have to consider the willingness of their staff to work certain hours. Since cost of labor can range up to 20% of an IBR’s total revenue it is crucial that every hour a store is open, it is open for a reason. Either to manage customer purchases or provide a customer service which creates profit later.
To help bike retailers make a more informed decision, in May of 2012 I conducted a study that took a closer look at hours of operations for IBRs in the United States. I sampled hours from a hundred bike retailers from 17 cities in the continental United States and compared them to a hundred other sporting goods retailers in the same cities.
Cities sampled in hours of operation study: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Denver, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Austin, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Asheville, Atlanta, and Miami
Median in grey.
Sporting goods retailers open earlier and close later than bike retailers in nearly all cases studied. The most common hours for a bike shop are 10-7 on weekdays, 10-6 on Saturday, and closed on Sunday. For sporting goods retailers the hours were longer in every instance: 10-9 on weekdays, 9-9 on Saturday, and 10-7 on Sunday. This begs the question, are sporting goods retailers providing a better service or taking potential customers from bike retailers?
With these results we learn that bike retailers are open 53 hours per week on average while sporting goods retailers are open 76 hours each week.
Opening earlier or closing later can prove fruitful though. Being the only bike retailer open in a city at 9pm might mean, over time, they will acquire new customers who would usually go to other stores but can’t. If an IBR has a ride that leaves from their store every Saturday at 7am, earlier hours on Saturday would allow them to provide pre-ride services and sell products needed for the ride. These small gestures of good will go a long way. Mellow Johnny’s in Austin, Texas opens their doors at 7am every day except Sunday when it opens at 8am. In a discussion with their manager I learned that business is generally slow in the morning. The customers that do stop by are generally dropping off their bike for repair before their workday begins and they are always grateful.
The study showed that Sunday was the most popular day for bike retailers to be closed with 32% locking the doors, compared to 11% of sporting goods retailers. If an IBR is choosing to close for moral or religious reasons, then by all means, I encourage them to do so. For other, smaller retailers closing down for one day a week may be helpful when attempting to save money. However, closing one day a week means being closed for 52 days a year, almost two months. Any retailer choosing to close one day each week will want to be absolutely sure they are making a smart financial decision.
According to the study the most effective, and possibly lucrative, hours of operation for bike retailers would be 11-8 on weekdays and 8-6 on the weekends. Of course this can vary from one location to another and whatever the hours of operation are retailers would be wise to prove the effectiveness by measuring traffic flow and sales.
Thank you for reading this far. If you found this content valuable, please share. Thanks - Donny
You can find more studies like this in my book! Leading Out Retail is a creative look at bicycle retail and teaches retailers simple strategies on how to increase profit through service, what the most important question to ask every customer is, and how to manage the dreaded Timmy Factor.
I've been in Manizales, Colombia for the past week working with staff from Specialized and retailers from all over the country. In our first session I led management training for SBCU, marketing, and sales leaders in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Chile. The following week the same course was offered in Spanish to 10 retailers from Colombia.
During my stay I've seen a number of bike shops and have had some amazing discussions about the business in this market. It has been very, very interesting.
In Colombia, you will see everything from gorgeous concept stores to small cinder block rooms, no bigger than a couple of bathroom stalls. While I may be biased, I believe the Specialized Concept Stores in Colombia are the best shopping experience for riders. Each store is called Welcome, here are some images of the Welcome Specialized Concept stores.
In general the bike shops operate as they would anywhere else in the world. The biggest difference would be the value placed on service in bike shops. Culturally, service is seen as an evil needed to sell a bike, not a profit center for the business. For example take a look at how much of the total revenue comes from service when compared to the US.
Overall, the trip has been very enlightening. I hope to return soon.
Check out my book. Leading Out Retail is a creative look at bicycle retail and teaches retailers simple strategies on how to increase profit through service, what the most important question to ask every customer is, and how to manage the dreaded Timmy Factor.
The greatest trick the internet ever pulled was convincing the world it would be easy to do.
If you want to know the ROI on your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter feed, if you want to know the value of an impression, or if you want to constantly recreate your social campaigns, I hate to tell you that you're in for a lot of work There is a fallacy that says the internet is easy. That once you start tweeting fans, admiration, and money start rolling in.
It' all a lie. There is no easy button. No one-size-fits-all aggregation tool. There is only hard work combined with a clear vision.
There is an ROI on social, but first you have to understand your marketing strategy for the entire business. You show me the marketing strategy for the company, I will show you the ROI.
Social is not fast. It takes time, dedication, and a continued effort to connect to people you don't know. If you can't add value to someone's life then you're time on social is going to e painful (Hint: adding value is not selling you product. Not yet anyway.)
If you liked this, please consider sharing. Thanks- Donny
In retail if you can increase engagement between staff and customers the owners will have two ideal results. First, improved customer service and second, an improved connection between the business and the employee. In bike retail, when this is done well, the person working in the store will be come known as the bike shop guy/gal, people will know where they can find them, they will seek them out to ask questions, and any thought they have that relates to bikes will default to them and, by association, to your business. If your staff known for where they works, if their role becomes part of their identity, they are motivated to stay and to do right by customers.
Here are some steps to take with staff to increase their relationship with customers and the cycling community.
As a manager you want to support anything outside of the bike shop that will support the growth of the cycling community. This is how you will develop social wealth in your staff and earn their dedication and hard work.
From the outside looking in, being a bike mechanic seems like a pretty plush job. Loose uniform standards, get to work on cool bikes, no one is judging that neck tattoo, and you've got a discount on all the best stuff.
This all assumes thought that you have enough money to live comfortably outside of the bike shop. If not, then it can seem to be a thankless job. I have written about bike technician salaries before- but recently converted some of the research into a quick slide deck. Check it out.
If you share this slide deck with your favorite bike mechanic they will love you and think you're cool. No, really, they will. Better share it now! Thanks - Donny
Whether posting to your Facebook page or sending out an email, an effective title can be the difference between clicking the link of ignoring it. Here are some of the most effective strategies when writing your title copy.
1. Who Else Wants [blank]?
Starting with “Who Else Wants” does two things: first it touches on the desire of want, second it confirms that the thing you’re offering has been proven to work by previous buyers.
2. The Secret of/to [blank]
You’ve probably seen this one used before. That’s because it works. It is implying some insider knowledge, something that can only be learned by consuming your content.
3. Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]
This will identify a target audience. Either one your speaking to directly or by illustrating a person or people that your target audience has aspirations to be.
4. [Do something] like [world-class example]
If you were watching commercials in the early 90s you may remember when Gatorade did this with the “Be Like Mike” campaign featuring Michael Jordan.
5. [Number] Ways to [solution/problem]. You will be [emotion]
This formula of words is like graduating to Copy Writing University. By showing a number we are setting the reader that this is a process that has been broken down to specific steps. Next it conveys an emotion and titles that convey emotion have a far greater open rate. Just check out Upworthy or Viralnova and just try not clicking one of those links.
Check out the book. Leading Out Retail is a creative look at bicycle retail and teaches retailers simple strategies on how to increase profit through service, what the most important question to ask every customer is, and how to manage the dreaded Timmy Factor.
Walk into a Lululemon and you'll see 10-20% of their floor dedicated to menswear. I know Lululemon wants more men buying their clothing, as of January 2013 only 12% of their sales were to men. So what should Lululemon's first step be? My thought: they should be dedicating more of the store to men.
Retailers get caught in an anti-growth cycle. If the sales of last year don't show opportunity then big investment becomes too risky (especially in the case of a public company like Lululemon). Lulu sales to men are only 12%, so they dedicate 12% of the order and floor space to men, and surprise-surprise that year's sales to men don't top 12% for some reason. If Lululemon wants to attract more men, they're going to have to take a risk and dedicate more of their floor space and marketing toward men.
The reverse is true for many bike retailers. Dedicate 12% of the product mix and retail floor to women then don't be surprised when women's product sales don't break 12%. Sometimes, customers reflect the inventory- not the other way around.
To grow a women's market in bike retail we can;t be afraid to make some serious investments. In product mix, in floor space, in advertising, and in marketing. Women are 51% of the US population and control a large majority of household spending. In some major cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Miami the Gender Gap has flipped and women are earning as much as 19% more than men.
If a retailer is under-serving women, they are under-serving 51% of their potential market.
The first bike retailer that jumps on this, that dedicates 50% or more of their store to women (or even opens a women's only store) will win their local market. At the very least, every female cyclist in the city would visit once. For the right retailer, one visit is all they will need to win them over.
If you found this insightful, it would mean a lot if you shared it. Thank you - Donny