Bicycle Price Fixing (Fin24 31May)

[kennyg]

I have 2 up starts, the non-ccycling related took off and runs comfortably. My wife stocks a few minor stores and the world is a better place. The cycling side is "FROT" with tension, everything is a discussion, I leave samples with stores, I courier them, I even courier the stuffback and its amazing how little actually gets done.

 

The website gets plenty feedback, its not user friendly at the moment but it works.

 

From my side, the cycling business is circling the drain in its current business model, distributors should be volume based and cover a loyalty portion, that should not interfere with the number of shops in an area or the relavent store brands. The worst case for the LBS is customer education, once customers start fixing their own stuff, and online is a given for parts, where is the LBS going to find its business. The local distributors can ask themselves the same question.

 

. I personally only deal with a couple of stores for parts and special items that cost a lot more to import from CRC than purchase locally, or if time is a factor.

 

The industry is delicately balanced and is probably close to saturation, it is healthy with a fairly competitive base but with 95% of the stuff imported the prices get set before distributor level, winning and loosing market share relates to a little luck and the brands that you have.. The case in point is interesting but the consumer will never really see any benefit.

[big.mamma]

"From my side, the cycling business is circling the drain in its current business model, distributors should be volume based and cover a loyalty portion, that should not interfere with the number of shops in an area or the relavent store brands. The worst case for the LBS is customer education, once customers start fixing their own stuff, and online is a given for parts, where is the LBS going to find its business. The local distributors can ask themselves the same question."

 

Very true I borrow tools from the LBS to fix my bike at home.