iRIDE Christmas Hours

Cycle Industry Musings - 'How is retail these days?'

Dear iRIDEr ,

We often get asked the question of ‘how is retail these days’ and ‘is (or how much) is online purchasing affecting the industry?’ It is a good question and one I will get to soon. 

The key points are summarised below. Those interested in the wider discussion can read in more depth below.

1. Retail is changing. 

1. There is no denying web retailing is here to stay. The etail business model means that pricing can be cheaper than bricks and mortar and we have no issue with that. 

1. However what concerns us at iRIDE is cyclists - our customers are buying online what can be quite technical cycling components, clothing, items etc without the knowledge they need to make the right decision as such we see so much wasted effort and money. 

1. We have no issue with helping our customers by fitting gear they may have bought on the web but it is often the wrong spec, size or it just isn't right for them. It would have been better if they came directly to us and got what they needed.

1. We believe by providing our customers with advice, guidance and expertise they get the value they need from us. If we offered none of those things and were simply the cheapest we wouldn't be doing the right things by our customers.

1. Value versus low price - we think value wins out every time.

We are always interested in your feedback and can be contacted at info@iride.net.nz

Retail and the Internet - an iRIDE perspective

Evolution is one of those things, it happens, sometimes good sometimes not so. Modern retailing is certainly undergoing an evolution and it is fair to say at an accelerated pace. This is clearly evident in the cycle industry as no longer will a growing proportion of riders accept a bike shop that has marginal service, an unappealing interior or less than adequate service. Many customers can and do compare online prices and make a very quick determination about what is a ‘fair price’ for any given product. Some make choices that take into account many of the factors outlined above and other issues such as the value of their time which is all fair.

Here is our approach at iRIDE. It is up to us to create an environment our customers and riders WANT to come back to. We will be successful over time if a customer chooses to come back again and again. The days of high margins are well gone. We need lots of smaller bites at the proverbial cherry. As riders we want to go see some aspirational product even if we are only after entry or intermediate level items. Ideally we want to get to know the folks at the store, see familiar faces (who might even know our names) and trust their advice and definitely not feel talked down to or ripped off. Somewhere to hang out, maybe have a coffee, get my bike fit dialed in and good guys in the workshop to look after my prized possession. If all these things come together we might even want to call that shop our ‘gang, group, hang out, posse, local or even ‘our’ store...

All good right but I can get it cheaper online... and that could always be an option! Online purchases are growing at an extraordinary rate fueled by a number of elements a store cannot influence (exchange rate, no duty, end of line and close-outs, free freight etc) so no use crying there. What can we do?

You will see at iRIDE a number of conscious choices we are making in key areas to do our best to keep your dollars local. More importantly we hope to not give you reasons to shop elsewhere. First up the pricing and value on bikes is the best we have seen since we have been operating. Bike prices came down this year from Specialized and added to that our package deals add additional value. We are excited about our bike pricing this summer. If there are deals out there significantly better than what we can do then there are other factors at play, and yes there are stores out there on the cusp of being no longer.

The battle ground is the everyday items. Sometimes where the price can be significantly cheaper we are tempted to forgo any warrantees, support or local back-up because the difference makes the risk in our minds worthwhile. We see this and do not begrudge a customer for doing what many of us would do in this situation might do. Common items such as pedals, tyres, tubes, chains, cassettes, break pads etc are all in the line of I need them anyway and I can save some money. We are seeing more customers with this product and you know hey, if you buy it online we are fine with helping with any installation and won’t make you feel bad or sting you extra labour. We get it. Better to embrace than scare a customer away.

What we have done is review several categories and amended the local (NZ) recommended retail pricing. The reason for this? I believe that for some products we are already seeing customers not even considering us as ‘the best, reasonable, cheapest’ place to buy. The consequence is we don’t even get to have a conversation and we therefore make 100% of zero on any given sale in this category. 

A real example is the customer who bought pedals for $150, then some stuff for his wife and then more stuff for himself. Still a great customer who shops with us, likes us quite a lot even but when quizzed about the purchase assumed we would not even be close. You know in this case he was actually right but here is the rub. Those pedals we no longer stock as they had a high failure rate! What we do now have are pedals at $180 and Shimano Carbon Ultegra Pedals that were $380 for $245. Had he known he probably would have bought from us, had them installed without the $30 install fee and had a pedal with a significantly reduced failure rate. And if it did WE would fix it.

We are soon to announce and promote new pricing across a range of key product and accessory areas. The logic is simple. If consumers get accustomed to shopping online then we loose the opportunity to develop a fruitful long term relationship, we know they end up buying a whole lot more ‘stuff’ when the credit card is out, their dollars go off-shore and ultimately we all lose. Like I said in such instances we make 100% of nothing on those sales. 

We will endeavour to offer the best pricing we can on pedals, tyres, nutrition, chains, cassettes, tubes , brake pads etc so that you have far less incentive to shop elsewhere. Watch this space it is coming and we are going to lead in this area. The goal for us is simple, keep dollars local and we hope in return increase the volume. If we sell more even if we make less then hopefully it all evens out and we can continue to pay the wages of the good folks you like serving you instore when you drop by. 

We are not trying to be the cheapest. What we are looking to do is to acknowledge there are an increasing number of you out there shopping online and we want to try and entice you back. Those that could not give a hoot about buying on-line well we say this to you, we don’t want you to have any reasons to not want to come back. We monitor key online websites and our goal is to understand the ‘normal’ prices offered, take into account and exchange rate differences and duties etc  

Our goal is to price at a point just above where we hope the difference is back to a small enough margin that shopping locally regains its appeal. You will be the judge. We hope for more volume. Most of all we hope we that we can have conversation or be given a chance instead of the default being that local is too expensive.

Retail and the impact of the internet. It can be more of a side issue than it needs to be. The internet will be an issue if we don’t push the boat out, evolve and offer fresh ideas to our customers. With this in mind this coming summer we have visiting Pro Cycle mechanics working for us, a demo and hire fleet of 30 bikes, 15 sets of race wheels, a new bike build centre that offers ‘custom’ from just over $6k, (yes you read it right!) two off-shore trained Body Geometry Bike Fit Technicians, a new website with a sales function (we are joining em!) AND a cafe that keeps getting better and better!

We are pumped about our future. Cycling is about community. It is up to us at iRIDE with your help to create an environment you want to be a part of and come back to. We do our best everyday, love riding our bikes just like you and are here because we want to help share the enjoyment cycling can bring us all!

Kind regards,

Andrew and the iRIDE Team

Cycle Aware Wellington Winners!

Last night was the Cycle Aware Wellington (CAW), Roll on Wellington awards 2013. At the awards iRIDE won Most cycle-friendly shop and Pura Vida won Most cycle friendly café!

Thank you all for the nominations and for voting for us! Also a big thank you to CAW for all the hard work they do for cycling advocacy in Wellington.

Here's some of the things that were said about us:

"Excellent, informed and friendly service, super workshop and no hard sell."

"Bike parking right outside - and inside too for that matter. Yummy, healthy food. Great coffee."

New iRIDE blog

This blog page has been created to share exciting news from our store, iRIDE. Expect reviews on bikes and products, event reports, tall tales from staff rides, along with other interesting happenings at the store, Wellington and the cycling world.