Industry trade shows, YTD results, and expectations for the rest of the year

Ryan is back with us after some travel, but he's not done yet! There are a few more trade shows and industry gatherings on the horizon, and he'll be presenting at most of them. We talk about those shows and the state of the bicycle industry, and the vibe and attitude of the dealers Ryan is meeting at shows like CABDA.

• CABDA Midwest
  • Split, dealers looking to diversity with ecommerce growth
  • Dealers looking for foot traffic
  • Universal interest in Google advertising
  • Lot of POS conversations
  • Lot of praise for our customer service team 
• Seminars for CABDA and with suppliers like Specialized, QBP, and J&B
• CABDA West
  • Day early for the NBDA retailer summit
  • Heather and her team host important conversations
  • 2 days of CABDA connecting with largely western dealers
  • Vibe from Chicago was optimistic
  • Hoping for the same thing
• Bicycle Leadership Conference next week
  • PeopleForBikes
  • Senior management from suppliers
  • Weighty topics like finance, forecasting, and government policy
  • Sustainability, ridership, and health benefits of cycling
  • On a panel discussion reviewing 2024 data and looking ahead
  • Real discussions will happen off the stage
  • Expect to learn a lot about sentiment and expectations
• Online sales
  • Last year online sales on Workstand outpaced the overall IBD space
  • 2025 is off to a good start
  • Up 7% through the end of February
  • Largely driven by twice as many electric bikes sold online YTD
  • Site traffic is -12% suggesting a drop in shopping activity
  • Electric bikes are driving up average order size and revenue per session
  • Make sure you’re actively marketing your electric bikes online
  • Consumers are buying
• Optimism for the spring
  • Overall economy and consumers are uncertain
  • Bike shops on the whole are running business lean
  • Gotta keep energy levels up to keep staff motivated
  • Be ready to be busy
  • Do the work to get busy
  • Ramp up marketing to get foot traffic and try to get some momentum
  • Lean into the categories that are moving
    • Electric bikes
      • Class 2
      • Class 3 road and mountain
    • Aluminum drop bar bikes
  • Market your service department starting now

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Ryan Atkinson, President + Co-Owner
Suzie Livingston, Marketing + Communications
Mark Still, Business Development

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If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email mark.s@works...