Ask the trade: are customer profiles changing?
There has been a general move away from focusing on the performance cyclist toward the customer undertaking a journey by bike. At retail, has this translated into changes in customer demographic, staff hiring and shop floor presentation? CI.N asks the trade…
How is your customer profile changing as eBikes increase in sales volume?
With our London customers returning to their workplaces post pandemic we are seeing a shift in demand for the products they need to optimise their journey. Whether it’s tackling a commute they previously dismissed by using an electric bike, or taking the kids to school using an electric cargo bike – we now carry products to cater for what once might have been thought of as niche in most of our locations.
Traditionally we’ve found customers purchasing eBikes to be pioneering, early adopters of new technology. However, Covid-19 was the catalyst for a greater openness and acceptance of eBikes from a wider audience. The pandemic lifted a barrier to entry for many who wanted to start cycling more.
Thanks to our virtual consultations and dedicated test-rides with Fully Charged specialists, across consumer, family and cargo, previously perplexed customers can now understand far more about the industry. Customers are getting younger every year, male customers tended to outweigh female customers, although 2020 brought about a year of change in seeing an increasing number of women purchasing for commuting purposes. This has continued. We are now seeing a considerable amount of families and businesses coming to us for cargo bike solutions. Our families are often looking to throw-away the car, or in need of a faster, greener and cheaper form of commuting than public transport.
We are now seeing all manners of businesses, from sole-traders, local authorities and councils, consumer brands, supermarkets and construction companies, adopting this newer form of mobility. Our customer base are usually Founders, Sustainability Heads, Operations or Logistics Leads of companies.
The immediate effect of eBikes launching was to bring in new people to cycling. Older, maybe physically limited people who’d been put off riding previously, having thought it “wasn’t for them”. Over the past few years, as technology has improved (lower weights, greater range, greater power outputs, more sophisticated designs), whilst that’s still been the case, there’s increasing “blurring of the lines” between electric and non.
Older riders are still converting, but, critically and increasingly, younger riders aren’t seeing them as a separate entity, but rather as a viable alternative to the mechanical bike they’d historically have chosen. The eBike is allowing riding further, for longer, with greater amounts of enjoyment. So, it’s increasingly becoming a rounded offer that increases the volume of potential buyers in all ways. A huge segment of consumers who’d previously have stayed away from cycling now have fewer reasons to, and those who already enjoy it have more options and reasons to consider a new bike, and more ways to enjoy and participate cycling. The only real barrier remains price, but that barrier is being eroded year-on-year too.
Is the cycling for transport customer changing the way you do business?
David Sheppard, Balfe’s Bikes
Our stores have always offered long opening hours to help facilitate servicing and emergency repairs for customers who need their bikes as part of their daily routine. The biggest shift we’ve seen recently is the customer preference to book a servicing slot via our online booking proposition – this service is available 24 hours a day and even shows booking slots same day for those last-minute opportunities.
Henry Hayes, Fully Charged
We’ve often thought in this way as a company, even prior to Covid-19, which is why we operate under three different categories as a business, ME (personal), WE (family) and B2B (business).
David Hicks, Rutland Cycling
It has certainly had an impact, particularly post-Covid. As a retailer with multiple locations in Cambridge, we’re really familiar with that type of customer but it feels as though we’re seeing more of that type of customer across the estate. Again, electric bikes have been a key driver, and we’ve seen particular change when adjusting our product offering to include eBikes at entry-level price points. We’re seeing more focus on active travel from councils and employers alike, which is making a difference in developing that ‘cycling as transport’ customer.
