ALLENTOWN, Pa. (BRAIN) — Bike shop visits by consumers declined 17 percent between 2012 and 2014, according to a new report based on consumer research by the industry consulting group Gluskin Townley.
Besides the decline in shop visits, the American Bicyclist Study showed an even sharper change since the last time the study was done, in 2012: The number of consumers who visited a bike shop, but purchased a bicycle from a discount/mass merchant increased by 117 percent.
The third annual American Bicyclist Study was done using a nationally representative panel of adult consumers managed by Toluna, a global research company. The questionnaire was designed by the Gluskin Townley Group to capture demographics, riding activities, and buying habits of adult owners of bicycles. The consumers responded to the questionaire in April this year.
Some details from the study:
- The number of consumers who visited a bike shop, but purchased a bicycle from a discount/mass merchant increased by 117 percent (compared to the 2012 study).
- At the same time the number of adults who visited a bike shop, and went on to purchase a bicycle from a bike shop fell by 20 percent.
- And adults who visited a bike shop and went on to purchase from an online retailer such as Amazon also declined by 36 percent.
The Gluskin Townley Group sells the Retail Landscape Report, which is 26 pages long plus 86 pages of tables, for $499, with discounts for NBDA and TBC retail and supplier members. Gluskin Townley will conduct a free webinar on the report on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. EDT. You can register for the webinar at gluskintownleygroup.com.
