HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (BRAIN) — Sales of performance e-bikes continue to drive sales increases for Accell Group, the parent company of Raleigh, Diamondback, Haibike and other bike brands. The company said the higher priced e-bikes contributed to a revenue increase in its third quarter, although it allowed that performance e-bike sales did canibalize some sales of regular sport bikes. It also said that sporting goods retail bankruptcies and a reorganization of its North American operations contributed to reduced profitability in North American in its third fiscal quarter.
The company did not immediately release sales figures for its third quarter results, but said it had higher turnover than the same quarter last year.
René Takens, chairman of the Accell Group board of directors, said it was looking to omni-channel sales to make up for lost sales through speciality retailers.
"In the US, we implemented the omni-channel strategy and continued to adapt our organisation. The Raleigh brand is now sold via specialist retailers, as well as via online retailers and direct online sales. We are working with a mobile services provider for some of our direct deliveries in the U.S. The first effects of our new supply chain organisation have become visible in greater delivery reliability and reduced working capital ... Accell Group is now seeing the first effects of the new omni-channel strategy. This strategy is expected to compensate for the reduced sales via the specialist retail trade in the U.S."
Takens noted that the higher average price of performance e-bikes helped the sales figures.
"Turnover in e-bikes continued to increase, in particular e-performance bikes. The strong growth of e-performance bikes is partly at the cost of sports bikes, which is a trend we are seeing in most of our sales markets. This development contributed to the decline in turnover from regular bikes. The order intake for the new 2017 collection is positive, once again in particular for our sports brands."
