With the high street slowly coming back to life after lock-down and the announcement of new investment in cycling and active travel, now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your customer’s experiences and the ways you could capitalise on the latest bike boom. Bike shops are not just for bike sales, they are fountains of knowledge and many are staples of the local bike community, but with customers flocking to the internet, shops need to start thinking outside of their traditional format to stay competitive. We’ve rounded up 5 things we think will help you to drive new customers into your shop.
1. Free service after a bike sale
One way to entice customers away from a larger or online retailer is a free service after a bike sale. For example, after a period of time such as six weeks after purchase, offer the customer a free service which can be used to sort out any little niggles that may arise during the bedding-in period of owning the bike. This way your customers, particularly those less than savvy with a toolbox, will be enticed away from the online giants, and into your shop with the promise of added value to their initial purchase. The Hubtiger app can help remind a customer when their bike is due for a service and can allow customers to book online. A quick service on a new bike will not take up much workshop time and will be valuable in the long run as the customer may become more loyal to your shop due to this gesture.
2. Digitising the systems
Creating an online presence is a must in today’s market. Most people (particularly younger consumers) like to be informed before they buy and so they use the internet to aid them. If your bike shop isn’t online, they’ll have a hard time finding you. Make sure you are active on social media and your website is up to scratch. If you are affiliated with the Hubtiger app your bike shop will be listed to potential customers who require workshop appointments, thereby increasing your reach even further.
3. Offering online bookings via the app and online widget
Organising the workshop can take up a lot of extra administration time that could be spent focussing on in-store customers needs, or working on bikes. By centralising and automating your workshop bookings using the Hubtiger app, you can save yourself and your customers time and effort for the same outcome. If customers download the app, they can book workshop appointments at any bike shop affiliated with our system, as well as pay for the service on the app — saving on hand-created invoices and extra time taken away from the shop.
4. Creating a Loyalty system
It’s no secret loyalty systems can be incredibly successful. Think about Tesco’s Clubcard programme, or when you get a coffee, how often do they give you a loyalty card with stamps? Now apply this to your bike shop. Perhaps it could be a spending loyalty scheme, or it could be a workshop loyalty scheme. For example, earn a silver level bike service once the customer has purchased three services. Keep your customers coming back through the door, not only to increase long-term loyalty but to potentially increase impulse sales when they drop off their bikes.
5. Pick-up and collections
For the less mobile customers or even the busier customers — a pickup or collection service could be the difference between choosing your local shop versus an online shop. Particularly in the current environment, everyone is under different circumstances and some may not be able to leave the house. Why not think about offering a collection service for a customer’s bike for workshop servicing? Or even deliver their new bike straight to their door. The Hubtiger app can help you keep track of your online pickup and drop off bookings and keeps the ease of the customer experience at the forefront of your strategy.
Check out how Tigre Hub can help you and your bike shop succeed in creating more revenue and bringing in more customers.