Why the Abus One key solution is the perfect upsell for IBDs
The Abus ‘One Key’ system is one of those ideas that lends itself spectacularly well to the bike shop sale and even more so if you’re lucky enough to be selling electric bikes in droves. Ed Denwood, Abus brand manager at Extra UK explains why…
We are creatures of convenience and paired to that, what can be more frustrating than losing your keys? We’ve all done it, scrambled through drawers trying to locate the right key for a lock and while life has steadily become simpler in the digital age in many respects, there remains the need to carry keys for everything from home security, right through to various keys for your customer’s bike fleet. Or is there?
Abus are the only bike brand on the market currently touting a ‘One Key’ service, available as an in store add on and one that just makes sense for a natural conversation from shop floor staff to bike buying customer.
For the uninitiated, the One Key offering is a bespoke solution that enables the customer to dictate a bespoke key for all compatible lock cylinders that they own from Abus, bar a few lines such as the Bluetooth systems now on the market.
Brand manager to Abus and Pirelli, Ed Denwood explains: “What stores carrying electric bikes may not already know is that the electric bikes on their shop floor more than likely already carry Abus security at OEM level and so with any electric bike sale comes the opportunity to sync the One Key solution to the sold eBike.”
Denwood is referring to the fact that the lock on eBike battery covers on countless leading brands are manufactured by Abus at an OEM level and for what the brand believes is over 80% of the eBikes sold in the EU. When customers are spending big on an eBike, the conversation around add on sales of security products immediately become more viable; you don’t spend thousands of pounds and gamble on security thereafter.
“It’s pertinent to the independent dealer that with the electric bike category enjoying success and with a generally older more discerning customer feeding in more, there exists an enhanced add on sale space that can incrementally add revenue and customer loyalty with something bespoke like ‘One Key’. It’s an easy lead in for security sales and one that can be framed positively as addressing asset protection out and about of home. Customers may not need as much persuasion,” explains Ed.
The cost to the consumer is not so drastic that they may have second thoughts, especially on account of the no brainer convenience on offer. There is just a 10% surcharge to begin the process of customising the cylinders and the turnaround can be just three to four weeks. All bespoke cylinders are made by hand in Germany with a high level of quality control built into the process. It is, for the bike shop, a relatable sale upon pointing out the annoyance of carrying and remembering where you put all the keys currently owned.
“Because Abus has a much wider home security market presence the brand has a big deterrent to thieves, they know us like a household name, which in itself means they quickly turn to softer targets. The XPlus system, which is the focal point of the One Key campaign is one of most secure against lockpicking. The internals have a high number of cylinders and require full key insertion to unlock. The cylinders are unlocked one by one, so as you go in with a pick you are only partially unlocking. With the XPlus you simply cannot pick the cylinder until all points are engaged at once,” explains Ed.
Though locks compatible with the custom cylinder programme begin at just £45, the product enhancement is generally well-matched to higher ticket items, which given this is an IBD exclusive service, is a big perk for stockists. The option to customise around convenience is vast too and appears on battery locks, frame locks, D locks, chains, folding security devices and alarmed locks too. For the eBike customer we are told the folding Bordo locks have been best-sellers on account of your typical pedal assist user being less concerned about carrying weight on the bike and liking the bracket option.
The lock’s brackets are no afterthought either, for Abus it’s an integral part of the product and tested as such. The internal test, says Ed, sees many brands last only minutes, while Abus brackets go for 200, even 300 hours, sometimes until the test machine gets turned off. Crucially we’re told they won’t jump up out of bracket or worse break it when the path underfoot gets rugged.
So, what’s with the Abus number rating affixed to each package, often parallel to the Sold Secure moniker?
Ed explains that Abus are never content with standard Industry testing and always prefer to go a step further, over and above the recognised standards. “Whilst Sold Secure testing provides a solid and respected benchmark for the industry, it is typically conducted via manual tests, rather than with a calibrated machine in controlled conditions. Therefore, tests might be less repeatable, it’s just not the same as machine applying the same test to every lock.
“Abus has its own test lab where they perform specific leverage and pull tests, freeze tests, sawing and more, in fact they pass more European tests than any other brand. Some lock brands pass Sold Secure, but perhaps not others. Swedish tests, for example, are subjected to extreme cold conditions that are lesser tested, so in those conditions things are easier to break. Abus too are very strict on corrosion testing, which can make a locking mechanism inoperable. In short, they are their own biggest critic and they prefer to go beyond the benchmarks of Europe.”
On that note, Abus has another lesser known but nonetheless pertinent point to make on a safety standard that is not front of mind; chemical content.
“On some lock brand’s packaging you’ll see the label has carcinogenic chemicals warnings, which EU directives ensure are expressly mentioned. Abus is using none of these and in fact it costs Abus 30 cents per lock to make sure 100% of its products contain no carcinogenic products that typically creep into the process during metal treatment and processing.
A significant perk to Abus is the brand’s complete control of its entire product cycle and this is again part of the reason why ‘One Key’ is able to form part of the service ecosystem. Abus is its own designer, manufacturer, tester and plenty more, something that Ed says is a rarity in the security world. With production of its security gods based in Germany and the helmets gradually shifting to an Italian factory there is a form of security in the firm’s supply in not being at the mercy of shipping from Asia for all but a minority of products.
Ed says that all of this combined should give shops confidence that Abus not only has its supply chain and quality control among the top tier brands in the industry, but has a product that is inherently well-matched to boosting revenue per bike sale with the sale of a unique service.
“If you go to Starbucks then 100% of the time they will offer you a muffin; what Abus offers with the ‘One Key’ service is that added value service that makes life so much easier. Where a family is buying several bikes it’s common sense to have one key, while eBike sales are a no brainer to tack this on given the Abus battery cover lock connection. We are removing all the reasons not to and a single key is a big life hack win for consumer, they don’t want five keys,” concludes Ed.
Finally, it is worth noting that for the bike shop with demo or hire fleet management as part of the business, the ‘One Key’ system is an excellent means to ensure staff are never short for finding the right key to unlock fleets. What’s not to like?
In case you missed it: Simon Ford became the Abus Sales and Marketing leader in December.
