LBS & online

[FCH]

Wondering out loud, is there a reason very (very) few bike shops have a online presence?

Excluding CWC and a handful of online shops, I really havent noticed many brick & mortar shops

having a commercial online presence.

Any feasible reasons?

[MEYER1]

bike-addict.co.za

[FCH]

Thanks Meyer, a list of shops would be helpful; but actually wondering why so few are keen to sell through this medium together with their brick & mortar

[Christian van Zyl]

Thanks Meyer, a list of shops would be helpful; but actually wondering why so few are keen to sell through this medium together with their brick & mortar

Online cycling stores are really more complex than people think... Thousands of products, very technical products and a customer base and distributors that are average in their work are contributing factors. 

 

Stores also hardly ever have enough/the right stock for every customer to run a viable online store. 

 

Short answer... You can make some money, but it really isn't very profitable business. It is a bit of a passion game, at least currently in SA. 

 

Even Takealot.com isn't profitable yet. 

[BenReaper]

Was told by my local Lbs that having a online shop much like CWC will need a full time employee to run the site.

The online shop will need to bring in enough revenue to pay said employees wages and make some profit.

Most smaller shops can also not afford to keep enough stock or a wide enough range for the demand of an online store.

 

Sent from my S40 using Tapatalk

[BenReaper]

Online cycling stores are really more complex than people think... Thousands of products, very technical products and a customer base and distributors that are average in their work are contributing factors.

 

Stores also hardly ever have enough/the right stock for every customer to run a viable online store.

 

Short answer... You can make some money, but it really isn't very profitable business. It is a bit of a passion game, at least currently in SA.

 

Even Takealot.com isn't profitable yet.

From A horses mouth.

 

Sent from my S40 using Tapatalk

[Christian van Zyl]

Was told by my local Lbs that having a online shop much like CWC will need a full time employee to run the site.

The online shop will need to bring in enough revenue to pay said employees wages and make some profit.

Most smaller shops can also not afford to keep enough stock or a wide enough range for the demand of an online store.

 

Sent from my S40 using Tapatalk

Correct... I always preach to anyone who is interested in online sales:

 

you are:

 

33% logistics company (Employ someone who loves shipping stuff around)

33% IT company (Employ a designer/web dev you will need it)

33% Product driven (cycling queries is a fulltime job. i.e Does this fit on that? Make a mistake and your shipping stuff around. 

 

Running a wordpress site will not cut it... 

 

EDIT**

 

I missed 1%... You must be 1% stupid to run an online store in the cycling industry. 

[Skylark]

Online cycling stores are really more complex than people think... Thousands of products, very technical products and a customer base and distributors that are average in their work are contributing factors.

 

Stores also hardly ever have enough/the right stock for every customer to run a viable online store.

 

Short answer... You can make some money, but it really isn't very profitable business. It is a bit of a passion game, at least currently in SA.

 

Even Takealot.com isn't profitable yet.

That's not totally true and you are talking from the perspective of a business that only sells online, it's different to a lbs that has a physical store that can essentially subsidise the cost of running a webstore, the setup costs and day to day overheads are world's apart.

 

You make a webstore that matches the store stock, no need to sell everything, just an online presence that complements the physical store. There's backends that will match physical store stock to online stock real-time, most decent lbs run inventory via digital already it's not a big leap to take it online.

 

Anyone who has been into a lbs, especially in the mornings on a weekday will see the shop empty and staff dawdling around the shop with not much to do, that could be time spent managing online sales. If it takes off then get extra staff to run it full time.

 

The benefit of online is its selling 24/7 to a much larger market, you do a product listing and it's done no extra merchandising work involved going forward.

 

Takealot is intentionally running at a loss, they want to capture the market and get penetration, a lot like Amazon's game plan has been.

 

It's an untapped market for many small businesses, perhaps takes an initial leap of faith but it's not rocketscience. Many lbs already sell in the bikehub classifieds.

[Christian van Zyl]

That's not totally true and you are talking from the perspective of a business that only sells online, it's different to a lbs that has a physical store that can essentially subsidise the cost of running a webstore, the setup costs and day to day overheads are world's apart.

 

You make a webstore that matches the store stock, no need to sell everything, just an online presence that complements the physical store. There's backends that will match physical store stock to online stock real-time, most decent lbs run inventory via digital already it's not a big leap to take it online.

 

Anyone who has been into a lbs, especially in the mornings on a weekday will see the shop empty and staff dawdling around the shop with not much to do, that could be time spent managing online sales. If it takes off then get extra staff to run it full time.

 

The benefit of online is its selling 24/7 to a much larger market, you do a product listing and it's done no extra merchandising work involved going forward.

 

Takealot is intentionally running at a loss, they want to capture the market and get penetration, a lot like Amazon's game plan has been.

 

It's an untapped market for many small businesses, perhaps takes an initial leap of faith but it's not rocketscience. Many lbs already sell in the bikehub classifieds.

We have a strategic partnership with one of the largest LBS in Pretoria, good stock and brands... Systems in place, we still have stock issues from time to time. When clients search for goods online it is sometimes for a product or part that is hard to come by. 

 

One thing I learnt, bike shop staff are bike shop staff for a reason. They tend to enjoy physical interaction and the digital world frustrates/irritates them. Answering email and having telephone calls are not their favourite, so you might have extra staff tim, but as I learnt it just does not work that way. It's lake having a restaurant and asking the waiters to wash dishes when their not serving customers. In theory yes...

 

There are game players in our market too that is running a loss leader/no profit strategy... I will not name, but this creates another problem, they tend to penetrate only the "bargain hunters" market that Cajees and Solomons target. 

 

I'll offer free advice to any LBS that would like to start selling online. I'm hoping that the online market in South Africa matures in South Africa to similar levels seen in Europe/Americas. At the moment, the more stores enter the better for the "online" industry. 

[Skylark]

Selling online is not hard, present the product correctly and well, client orders, pays, you pack and ship. The keys are not selling stock you don't have, having amazing communication and shipping quickly.

 

I think bike shop staff will take umbrage at you implying that they are stupid or narrow minded, if as an lbs owner your staffing choices are poor and they are poorly motivated then yes perhaps your point has merit but that's another issue all together. In that vein the cheapest employee an lbs could ever find gauranteed is an online store, no complaining and works 24/7 365.

 

Price is definitely not the only reason people shop online large motivators are also convenience, speed, diversity and past experience with the lbs, if I know the physical shop is good then I'll have implicit trust in the online shop, another way the physical shop subsidises the online store. Customers can also collect online orders in store and do returns/warranty in store, if it suits them.

 

An lbs can make their online store as complicated or simple as they see fit but why leave a market untapped that has such low cost/barriers to entry and once setup sells 24/7?

[lerouc]

Because to have an online shop your prices must be competitive online and then you will have to explain to your customers why is the same thing 30% more expensive in the shop compared to your online price and then non of your clients will go into your shop.

 

O yeah and 99% of the people i have met in the cycling industry are cyclist not technical (IT) savvy guys and think that their iphone should be enough to run their online shop from.

 

Its not just cycling industry, i've been shopping for a lot of car parts recently and damn i dont have the time to swing by 10 shops to get prices and check what they have. SA is still very behind in the eCommerce sector.

 

I would love to support my LBS more and if they had an online store with shipping. Its just too easy to quickly go online get the product, pay, have it delivered to reception, pick it up on the way to the parking lot and put it on the bike in the evening.

 

One thing i can give takealot, its happened a few times now where i arrive at the office in the morning place an order online and by the time i get home tonight it is waiting for me there.

[Cycle4Life - Paarl]

Selling online is about making money, you dont know the customer, you dont care whether they are buying the correct item and whether they will benefit from the item. Bike shop owners are mostly in it for the love of cycling, when you sell online it is a cold straight forward transaction where someone is purely shopping based on price, In a bike shop that is not what we do, WE LIKE PEOPLE, WE LIKE DEALING WITH PEOPLE, WE LOVE CYCLING, WE LIKE TO TALK CYCLING and we like giving people good honest and correct advice, and then we sell the the correct parts, as the stuff they bought online was wrong, so if you are just bargain hunting then shop online, you will however find that very often the same item might actually be cheaper at your LBS, and the they will most likely also fit the part or component free of charge

[Wannabe]

Snip Snip

 

WE LIKE PEOPLE, WE LIKE DEALING WITH PEOPLE, WE LOVE CYCLING, WE LIKE TO TALK CYCLING and we like giving people good honest and correct advice, and then we sell the the correct parts, as the stuff they bought online was wrong, so if you are just bargain hunting then shop online, you will however find that very often the same item might actually be cheaper at your LBS, and the they will most likely also fit the part or component free of charge

 

This part is true. I can get most of the smaller / consumeable type items cheaper from my LBS than say, CWC.

[Skylark]

Well misconceptions about online abound.

 

Bike shop owners not in it for the money, that's a first, poor suckers don't realise they are running charities.

 

Every shop open for business is out to make money and maximise profits, that is business basics.

 

Lbs being cheaper than online and fitting the part for free hahahaha, what a load of schit, I'm assuming that shop offers free wash n lube everyday for anyone?

[Christian van Zyl]

Selling online is not hard, present the product correctly and well, client orders, pays, you pack and ship. The keys are not selling stock you don't have, having amazing communication and shipping quickly.

 

I think bike shop staff will take umbrage at you implying that they are stupid or narrow minded, if as an lbs owner your staffing choices are poor and they are poorly motivated then yes perhaps your point has merit but that's another issue all together. In that vein the cheapest employee an lbs could ever find gauranteed is an online store, no complaining and works 24/7 365.

 

Price is definitely not the only reason people shop online large motivators are also convenience, speed, diversity and past experience with the lbs, if I know the physical shop is good then I'll have implicit trust in the online shop, another way the physical shop subsidises the online store. Customers can also collect online orders in store and do returns/warranty in store, if it suits them.

 

An lbs can make their online store as complicated or simple as they see fit but why leave a market untapped that has such low cost/barriers to entry and once setup sells 24/7?

 

Consider yourself hired!

[Spinnekop]

I only order online if my LBS cannot get it.

AX-lightness

Arundel

MCFK

King

Tune

etc.