What has happened to the variety?

[flecc]

Hi John, I disagree with you re larger retailers. I believe what will happen, as in Germany and Holland, is the big guys will simply grow the market

I agree, but where the big guys inevitably fail is in good enough consistent service. Can anyone link me to high praise in this forum for Halford's service? Hardly, but links to the opposite are available. Equally big online retailers will always be restricted in the service they can give due to both their size and the distances involved.

This is why the little guys will continue to succeed, they can and will provide the personal tailored service that consumers usually want and often need.

 

[trex]

If ever the big guys like CRC and Wiggle come in, they will offer big discount on top brands such as Giant, Cube, Haibike to establish their holding.
Then there are the supermarkets and the likes of Ocado. Watch how quickly Tesco market their Hopper range. This situation has happened in the PC business back in the 90s when PCWorld pushed out the smaller PC companies like Apricot and Elonex.
There are about 15 advertisers here, on the forum. I always wonder how they can make a living, if I am to believe that the UK market size is around £30M a year. How much turnover per company on average? £500k?

 

[Frankie24]

I have bought a cube hybrid reaction pro.
I just got on Friday and ride in 2 days 80km and still having battery. My idea was to use for the week to go work and in my free time to enjoy. However I got an injury in my ankle and this will have to wait but I will write something for sure.
At the moment I am very happy with the quality and the way it looks ( I know people who knows more than me about bikes will think or say that the specs are not that good, but for me is more than enough)

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi John, I disagree with you re larger retailers. I believe what will happen, as in Germany and Holland, is the big guys will simply grow the market, more people will be aware of electric bikes due to the big retailer's marketing budgets. Smaller retailers may lose market share but will end up with a smaller slice of a larger cake. Hopefully this will balance or even be of benefit. There is still a lot of choice on the continent, I assume the same will happen here.

All the best

David

Hi David,
I hear, or more correctly read what you say, but I said if not when.

Will the UK eventually mirror what has happened in mainland Europe.....my crystal ball is rather fuzzy on that one.

 

[flecc]

Will the UK eventually mirror what has happened in mainland Europe.....my crystal ball is rather fuzzy on that one.

Fuzzy is probably the response from a crystal ball when asked when something will happen which never will.

Ask it will the UK continue to be a car driving nation and it will clear immediately.

 

[EddiePJ]

If ever the big guys like CRC and Wiggle come in, they will offer big discount on top brands such as Giant, Cube, Haibike

Keep up... Wiggle already sell Haibike.

 

[Cyclezee]

Keep up... Wiggle already sell Haibike.

but only one available from stock

 

[trex]

...
Can anyone link me to high praise in this forum for Halford's service? Hardly, but links to the opposite are available. Equally big online retailers will always be restricted in the service they can give due to both their size and the distances involved.

This is why the little guys will continue to succeed, they can and will provide the personal tailored service that consumers usually want and often need.

yes, but customers still shop at Halfords and Evans in large numbers and few can resist a big discount.
The reality is bikes have become so much better that more and more are going to shop on the net for better price.

 

[EddiePJ]

but only one available from stock

To be fair, I think that they only started to sell Haibike a month ago, and they have received a hell of a lot of written negative flak for it from the existing client base, so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

I guess that they are feeling the water with a very little toe.

 

[trex]

please don't take this as a personal criticism but a lot of posts from the advertisers are just 'please, buy my bike' without explaining why we should buy yours instead of another brand at lower price. Frequent posters like myself try to answer the OP's questions, obviously not 'it costs £500 more because of superior design' or 'because it's black and orange' but with boring technical data.

 

[RobF]

To be fair, I think that they only started to sell Haibike a month ago, and they have received a hell of a lot of written negative flak for it from the existing client base, so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

I guess that they are feeling the water with a very little toe.

I recall seeing Haibike ebikes on Wiggle about a year ago, perhaps they took them off and have re-listed them.

I have the impression ordinary cyclists tend to use the likes of Wiggle and Chain Reaction more for components and accessories.

Bikes - of any type - are probably not big sellers for those sites.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

There are about 15 advertisers here, on the forum. I always wonder how they can make a living, if I am to believe that the UK market size is around £30M a year. How much turnover per company on average? £500k?

Simply put is is tough Trex, although there are some of the smaller players selling rather a lot of bikes now. We have seen year on year sales almost double during 2014 and that is against the Hopper and other cheap bikes sold by the large retailers.

One of the big German supermarkets is selling an e bike at a 5% margin and buying from the manufacturer directly. They have sold a lot of electric bikes, but cannot offer halfway decent service. I understand from my contacts in Germany that a lot of these people get their first taste of ebikes this way then go into their local electric bike shops for subsequent purchases.

As long as sellers in the UK offer good service and overall good value I don't think they have too much to worry about, and should welcome the big suppliers, whilst they help to open up the market.

All the best

David

 

[trex]

The interesting sector to watch is the 20 or so IBD like condor cycles in London selling to c2w customers. If they decide that e-bike is the way to go, their combined firepower is awesome and it will hurt!

PS: FWG may have seen sales double in 2014 because of the merger rather than national trend.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

PS: FWG may have seen sales double in 2014 because of the merger rather than national trend.

Good point Trex, but we are hoping to double the combined turnovers. I think it is the service we offer to out Stockists and through our Stockists to the bike riders that is helping boost our sales.

It's not just FWG that are doing well, I speak to a lot of retailers and distributors/manufactures and they are all saying 2014 is massively up on last year.

All the best

David

 

[flecc]

yes, but customers still shop at Halfords and Evans in large numbers and few can resist a big discount.
The reality is bikes have become so much better that more and more are going to shop on the net for better price.

Fully agree, my point only being that the big boys will never squeeze out the smaller ones. Motorised vehicles of any sort are not like TVs etc, so there's always those who want and need personal service.

The motor trade illustrates this. New cars have been online for more than two decades at heavily discounted prices, but still most private customers buy locally, often from individual or small chain agents.

 

[trex]

millions of us can fix our bikes, not our cars so the comparison is not perfect.
The bulk of e-bikes for the next few years is still Bosch, favouring http://ebay.de especially after Chistmas - I think the trend for e-bikes follows much of the laptops, TVs and white goods simply because it's bulky and also, e-bike showrooms tend to cater for small volume brands like Moustache who only make 3,000 bikes last year, the volume makers may go for cheaper internet distribution model on the long run. It should not affect most of the advertisers on this forum, they all have online ordering. The more interesting trend to watch is the average price. I think the 'heat map' is reducing despite having more choice and the average price seems to move from £1500 last year down to may be £1350 this year with more or less permanent discount from 50 cycles.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

I think the white good analogy is a little off the mark as they dont often need servicing, the trend is very much to dump and replace them after a couple of years. I dont think this will be the case with bicycles.

There is also the massive peace of mind when you buy a recognised brand from a retailer. I bought a Miele Washing machine and tumble drier from John Lewis three years ago in August. Yes I paid a little more than I had to but when the washer went wrong last year I called John Lewis and it was repaired the next day. The retailer took me through all the possible brands and recommended the machines I bought, to me that service is worth a lot.

Generally bicycle shops are bucking the on line trend as most people need to get their bikes serviced, I don't know one bicycle shop who is not stacked out with repair work. Electric bicycles need more skill to service and repair than a vanilla bike, therefore the obvious choice for anyone looking to buy an electric bike is to go to their local ebike shop.

Just my opinion!

All the best

David

 

[trex]

I don't think e-bikes buck the trend. The market share of online sales will keep increasing following the trend of shopping on tesco, amazon & ebay.
It will remain true that the majority of e-bikers need help with maintenance. Bike mechanics charge around £30 per hour, e-bike specialists charge £50 per hour, so you can't exagerate the need for servicing or you will put off potential customers from buying.
worry about the on-going costs? don't worry, 99% of maintenance jobs can be sorted by friends, normal LBSs or mobile mechanics. Electrical faults? just post your problem here.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Bicycle retail has already bucked the trend, I am positive electric bike retail will also do so. Retailers sell the same bikes as one line sellers they simply offer a better service and a local service point for those that aren't able or willing to do their own repairs and servicing.

The reason every 90% of cycle shops in Germany and Holland (and there are a lot of them) sell and service electric bikes, is because they do so well despite Amazon and ebay.

All the best

David

 

[trex]

I don't dispute that in general, the market grows and retailers are doing well and there are plenty of new models to empty your wallet every year. I predict that market share of online retailing will grow and shop premises will shrink. I also predict that the volume producers will eventually go for online distribution via large chain stores like Halfords, CRC and Evans, leaving the IBDs to keep themselves busy with smaller volume producers.
I visit evans and Halfords once a week but I shop in the High Street or on ebay, amazon, Aliexpress, CRC and gumtree. Does it say something about me? tight arsed git or the silent majority?