Rick Vosper
All articles by Rick Vosper
The same Last Mile challenges that are putting power into retailers' hands with D2C brands has the potential to the change dealers' relationship with their primary specialty brands, too.
Here’s an interesting paradox: the more popular consumer-direct bicycle sales become, the more mission-critical Last Mile providers will be to their success. Should we embrace this trend, or resist it?
What this potential replacement for the venerable derailleur drivetrain tells us about disruptive technology, the concept of net novelty, and the future of the entire cycling industry.
As the largest bike brands struggle to gain controlling share of a flat market, the Quadrumvirate’s Bike 3.0 model has failed in several fundamental ways.
The top four bike brands are currently represented in 52% of U.S. bike shop locations. But what about the other 48%? Is lack of alignment with The Quadrumvirate a one-way ticket to the poorhouse? Available data suggests not.
As the Bike 3.0 model evolves, the rich are getting (somewhat) richer, the poor are getting (a lot) poorer, and the rest of us worker bees are getting told it's all just Business As Usual. And maybe it is.
In Rick Vosper's update to his May 6 editorial, it seems Walmart's Viathon brand has delivered more — and less — than promised.
Last time, I proposed that bike and equipment companies can succeed and grow in a flat market by shifting focus from pushing units to winning — and keeping — customers; and that they can do this by offering a better customer experience, starting at the in-store level. The current installment unpacks that idea in a little more depth, including the question, "how do we pay for all this stuff?"
What will shake up a stagnant bicycle sales market? Retailers dedicated to improving customer service while building brand loyalty.
A deeper look into the Bike 3.0 model, the larger concept of market domination, and into Shimano specifically, perhaps the only truly dominant brand in the Bike 3.0 landscape.
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