A version of this feature ran in the November issue of BRAIN.
BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — For our November magazine edition, we asked our State of Retail panel members: What are the most and least effective things you’ve done to engage with customers and keep them riding after their initial purchase and visiting your shop? What, if any, youth-specific engagement has worked well?
MONTCLAIR, N.J.: Dave Adornato, owner Montclair Bikery
Discounting and group by-ins as part of a club membership, which create a sense of entitlement and have backfired on the shop in multiple ways, are two of the least effective ways we’ve engaged with customers. Our most effective customer-engagement activities have been community- and discount-oriented. We host shop rides, and among the rides, we have a “Ladies Lead” option to encourage women to ride without the pressure that a male-dominated ride often has. We also host an annual Turkey Ride, where the cycling community rides to a local grocery store and buys turkeys for the local food bank. This has been extremely successful in generating engagement and goodwill throughout the year. It is a great cause that generates tens of thousands of dollars, plus hundreds of turkeys for needy families.
It’s also effective when we participate in the sales that our major brands hold throughout the year as well as holding in-store sales seasonally. Social media has also been effective. We find that our shop’s social media presence has become a big motivator for customers. It creates a sense of inclusion, and of course, keeps clientele up-to-date with the business. And, finally, we do offer programs for kids: all our new children's bike purchases can be traded in for up to a third of their original retail price, and we participate in offering manufacturers’ discounts for members of National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).
HARDWICK, Vt.: Jason Bahner, co-owner Riverside Cycles
We have a holistic approach with our customers that centers around being personal and providing ideas and solutions for upgrades and accessories. We firmly believe that trying to sell customers what they need versus what they don't need is critical when establishing an honest customer relationship. We strive to build rapport with our customers, and we also build community through our Wednesday night gravel rides. We do our best to have sales that promote products, and communicate with our customers via bulk email to create connectivity with our activities and sales. For the younger segment of our customers, at this point we do our best to promote youth riding by giving discounts to youth groups and local schools for rentals and accessories.
The thing that has been most ineffective for us is when we do not take the time to build rapport with customers. Customers generally know that they want a new bike; however, they have difficulty choosing the right bike for them and understanding the interplay of spec’s, geometry, and features of bikes. We are ineffective at building engagement when we don’t take time to help the customer understand the bike.
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo.: Enric Die-Girbau, operations manager Rhythm Cycles
We have learned a few effective ways of engaging customers, such as offering seasonal-specific (and off-seasonal) service discounts that give customers a reason to come back in to see us. We also offer basic mechanics courses, and these have been effective in building engagement. We organize races and hold video-watching parties that keep people riding and engaging with us. The most ineffective thing that we’ve done to promote customer engagement was offering seasonal shop-wide discounts. Ski-season is a challenge in Colorado, and our off-season is tricky. We usually work in large service-specific discounts to attract customers who otherwise are focused on skiing. Even though the location of our shop in the front-range of Denver remains rideable for the majority of the season, a collective mental shift occurs in force in January and customers stop looking at their bikes until March or later.
COSTA MESA, Calif.: Lisa Fleischaker, owner The Unlikely Cyclist
Our most effective customer engagement has been our approach to the business. Building community was the foundation of the shop, and in fact, we had a riding group before the shop existed. We host lots of events and rides at our shop on a regular basis all throughout the year as we did right from the very beginning. We have team events and organized rides that we train for as well as cycling trips. We don’t cater to kids or youth cycling, so we don’t have any best practices there.
The most ineffective thing we did was holding clinics on a monthly basis. We didn't need to hold flat clinics once a month, for example. That was too frequent, and people would sign up and not show up. We also learned not to hold clinics between mid-November and January. Offering clinics less frequently, at other times of the year, has helped engagement immensely.
BOULDER, Colo.: Diana Freeman, owner/founder Cassiopeia
Community building is core to how we connect with our customers. We host a weekly ride program that has dedicated womxn's programming, and we also have an education series and regular collaborations with other brands and community partners. But, more importantly, we strive to have a personal interaction with every customer who walks in the door. As for youth programs, serving the youth market is outside of our shop’s focus. At this stage, we're just one year into running the business, and I’m not sure we've seen yet what doesn't work. I do think sometimes ride programs can become oversaturated, and that puts a strain on your most engaged community members: your ride leaders. So we are always looking for how we do less, more effectively.
GREENWICH, Conn.: Rob Koshar, owner Greenwich Bicycles
Follow-up phone calls and emails are the most effective way for us to check in with our customers. Our best practice to drive sales is a phone call to our best customers, so based on that, the least effective thing we do for engagement is failing to get a customer’s contact info when they buy something. We also hold an annual sale to close out old inventory. This year, that’s gotten a boost from tariff price increases on new inventory.
BELLINGHAM, Wash.: Staci May, co-owner Earl’s Bike Shop
The most effective engagement is offering good customer service from the start. We always have grand plans of hosting and leading group rides, but they have yet to come to fruition. We have done a holiday party in the past with associated discounts that have been mostly a thank you to our loyal customers. We are on social media and send emails after purchase, but I have to say that the email after purchase doesn't seem to do much. We have a "trade in, trade up" program for kids’ bikes. Starting at 12 inches and going up to 24 inches, if a kid grows out of the bike in a year, we offer 50% of the original purchase price off the next bike. The best part is that parents feel good about getting their kid the right sized bike, and we have a decent used bike to sell at a lower price point for those parents who can't necessarily afford new.
MIAMISBURG, Ohio: Sandy Whitman Talley, owner Whitman’s Bike Way Bike Shop
We’re passionate about promoting fun. This has been an effective way for us to engage with our customers. We highlight all new riders via our shop’s social media accounts, and we encourage the joy of cycling to new and seasoned riders. We have also initiated a few group rides and plan to do more in the future. We help with community-organized rides, showing our support to this recreational sport. For parents shopping for kids’ bikes, we do mention that future trade-ins are welcome. Offering discounts via coupons and running ads are two of the things that have been the most ineffective for us.
SAN FRANCISCO: Brett Thurber & Karen Wiener, owners The New Wheel
We have a very active sales process and after-sales service process, and we constantly focus on working with customers to find solutions to help them cycle more. We would love to do more events and rides but find mustering the resources to be challenging. In our experience so far, group rides are hit or miss, but this is likely because we don't have a consistent schedule and our riders tend more toward transportation cyclists versus recreational cyclists. We sell a good number of kids’ bikes, along with a whole lot of family bikes. We offer trade-up programs for our kids’ bikes which aren't utilized as often as I would think they would be, but it feels good to customers to know this is available.
