Bicycle retailers sold about 4 million bicycles in Germany worth €2 billion Euros in 2011, according to figures released Wednesday on the eve of the giant Eurobike show in Friedrichshafen, Germand by Verband des Deutschen Zweiradhandels e.V (VDZ), the German bicycle retailing association.
The sale of textiles, replacement parts and repair services totaled €1.45 billion, meaning that the industry was able to achieve total revenues of €3.45 million.
Specialty stores and shops sell 70 percent of all units sold; this amounts to a 78 percent share of revenues. Both figures represent a light increase over the previous year.
The Statistische Bundesamt registered an increase in revenues of 6.4 percent.
Research by the VDZ, which is based mainly on information provided by specialty retailers, indicates an average increase of 8 percent during the same period.
The reasons for this are as follows:
- Specialty retailers’ share of bicycle revenues rose from 76% in 2010 to 78% in 2011.
- The number of units sold remained constant. However, the value per bicycle sold increased. The average price of a bicycle in 2011 was 500 Euros (460 Euros in 2010). This increase was due, above all, to higher-priced e-bikes.
- The larger specialty retailers have especially benefitted from the trend towards e-bikes. Smaller companies, on the other hand, have had to cope with declining revenues and were only able to marginally benefit from the e-bike boom. They are rarely able to make the higher capital investments required in the e-bike business. Furthermore, they typically do not have enough sales and storage space to be able to offer the wide selection that consumers expect in this segment. The relatively high quality that customers demand when purchasing an e-bike has also led to an increase in specialty retailers’ share of overall bike sales. Low-priced products have not yet been able to penetrate this sector, in the experience of the VDZ.
“In the bicycle industry, sales deficits that arise at the beginning of the season can usually only be overcome with difficulty,” VDZ said in its release.
Dealers’ market behavior
Specialty retailers expect that, in the case of e-bikes in particular, continued rapid technological development can be expected. For dealers, this means that they must take care to ensure that their stocks of products in this segment do not grow at the end of the season, as this would bring high risk. In addition to these technical developments, it is expected that new competitors will enter this market segment. However, when buying an e-bike, consumers continue to expect a good selection and high quality, not just of products but also of service and advice. Thus, it will be possible for classical bicycle retailers to be able to retain or expand their market share in this segment.
It must also be kept in mind that market consolidation processes are underway in the bicycle industry. Large retail chains (including some from abroad) are expanding more rapidly and gaining market share. A tendency towards larger units is apparent in family-owned specialty retailers as well, with smaller companies losing market share.
Sales by “online retailers” are growing over-proportionally, at the expense of brick-and-mortar specialty retailers. This is especially true in regard to accessories.
Classic specialty stores continue to make an effort to retain their customers through excellent service.
Additionally, smaller companies are increasingly focusing on a few brands, so as to avoid financing problems and to be able to place sufficient order volumes with their suppliers.
Profitability
Parallel to the developments in sales, the profitability situation has developed differently in the different size classes of retailers.
The expanding companies were able to increase their results and their supply of capital, despite slightly smaller profit margins.
In contrast, smaller dealers who were not able to profit from the demand for e-bikes showed a decline in revenues and profits, and an associated decline in capital. Expanding service, the strategy being undertaken by many of these smaller dealers as a way to compensate for this development, is cost-intensive and is often only feasible as a way of securing the business if the owner is personally prepared to make a high commitment. Furthermore, it is increasingly difficult for these companies to secure sufficient prices in the service area.
Trade-ins of “used” bikes have again increased, also for e-bikes. This has an impact upon the amount of capital that is tied up in these companies’ storage facilities.
Also, in more than a few cases, it is necessary to intensely haggle with customers about the value of the trade-in. However, trade-in offers are increasingly utilized by dealers as an effective marketing instrument.
Outlook
The stable trend towards cycling is expected to continue in 2012. This will give rise to high demand for high quality products, including accessories.
Qualified retail specialists are available in adequate numbers, as is an adequate service network, something which is important for the acceptance of this form of transportation by consumers.
Researchers of consumer trends have, in general, recognized a light movement away from low cost products by consumers. The strong interest in innovative products and an increase in the appreciation of quality – in regard to high-quality products as well as services – should be welcomed by the cycling industry and will stabilize the position of specialty retailers in the market.
In the industry’s service sector, a high level of technical quality is expected. Furthermore, quality communication between sales personnel and customers must also not be neglected.
The trend towards e-bikes will increase as the performance of batteries and motors improves, but competition will also become more intense in the e-bike sector, both within the industry as well as with manufacturers from other industries.
This will continue to place high demands on retailers and their partners and will require a high level of close cooperation and coordination.
