Thought provoking bike industry article on impulse buying (discounting)

[Deleted member 4210]

Is impulse-led buying becoming a significant issue for the cycle industry?

CI.N takes stock on impulse-led buying with Apidura founder Tori Fahey who warns the cycle industry is stuck in a never-ending cycle of discounting...

cyclingindustry.news

 

[PDXzap]

Interesting article, I never thought of many bike sales as being impulse.

@Deleted Member 4210 since your in that business, do you agree with the article.
I agree with the "repair" vs. replace, I think I'd be happy as a lark repairing things for a living... probably be a hard living because I'd be as poor as a lark also☹

 

[Deleted member 4210]

Interesting article, I never thought of many bike sales as being impulse.

@Deleted Member 4210 since your in that business, do you agree with the article.
I agree with the "repair" vs. replace, I think I'd be happy as a lark repairing things for a living... probably be a hard living because I'd be as poor as a lark also☹

Think of the most dominant retailer in the past 20 years.

Did they have to discount to get people to buy their product ?

Apple.


The article has a lot of good points.

 

[erider_61]

2 reasons I bought my Ebike online....no local LBS selling Ebikes & the price point

 

[smorgasbord]

Apple is not the most dominant retailer, so not the story being told. It may be the most dominant consumer goods manufacturer, and it does sell retail, but I'd bet Target, Walmart, and Costco (maybe Home Depot) are far more dominant if you look at retail sales. And obviously, they discount quite a bit.

In my view, eBikes are sold like cars. There are model years, and in the off-season there is discounting to get old stock sold. Hence the Black Friday sales here in the US. And this is for low-end bikes like RadPower as well as for high-end bikes like Riese & Muller.

I think it's wrong to say that discounting encourages impulse buying. Maybe for some, but clearly on this forum we have people looking to figure out which bike to buy and then maybe the sale triggers an actual purchase of one bike of another, or accelerates the timing. But, I don't see people not looking for a bike suddenly deciding to spend $1500 or $15000 just because it went on sale.

 

[Handlebars]

Apple is not the most dominant retailer, so not the story being told. It may be the most dominant consumer goods manufacturer, and it does sell retail, but I'd bet Target, Walmart, and Costco (maybe Home Depot) are far more dominant if you look at retail sales. And obviously, they discount quite a bit.

In my view, eBikes are sold like cars. There are model years, and in the off-season there is discounting to get old stock sold. Hence the Black Friday sales here in the US. And this is for low-end bikes like RadPower as well as for high-end bikes like Riese & Muller.

I think it's wrong to say that discounting encourages impulse buying. Maybe for some, but clearly on this forum we have people looking to figure out which bike to buy and then maybe the sale triggers an actual purchase of one bike of another, or accelerates the timing. But, I don't see people not looking for a bike suddenly deciding to spend $1500 or $15000 just because it went on sale.

After seeing this year's price reductions, I'd certainly PLAN to be an impulse buyer if I thought I had the extra dough to spend
Whichever suitable bike or accessory is on the best special, that would be the impulse buy. I think most bike sales are impulse decisions, from that angle.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

I think it's wrong to say that discounting encourages impulse buying. Maybe for some, but clearly on this forum we have people looking to figure out which bike to buy and then maybe the sale triggers an actual purchase of one bike of another, or accelerates the timing. But, I don't see people not looking for a bike suddenly deciding to spend $1500 or $15000 just because it went on sale.

I really thought about buying an extra Rad bike when they were closing out the season with bikes for $999. Heck, a spare battery is $550. Why not get a battery and a bike for $999?! I resisted the impulse, but I'm not entirely glad I did.

TT

 

[Deleted member 4210]

Apple is not the most dominant retailer, so not the story being told. It may be the most dominant consumer goods manufacturer, and it does sell retail, but I'd bet Target, Walmart, and Costco (maybe Home Depot) are far more dominant if you look at retail sales. And obviously, they discount quite a bit.

In my view, eBikes are sold like cars. There are model years, and in the off-season there is discounting to get old stock sold. Hence the Black Friday sales here in the US. And this is for low-end bikes like RadPower as well as for high-end bikes like Riese & Muller.

I think it's wrong to say that discounting encourages impulse buying. Maybe for some, but clearly on this forum we have people looking to figure out which bike to buy and then maybe the sale triggers an actual purchase of one bike of another, or accelerates the timing. But, I don't see people not looking for a bike suddenly deciding to spend $1500 or $15000 just because it went on sale.

Not one of those firms matches Apples profitability or dominance in their respective competing categories. Maybe retailer was the wrong word, but Apple is vertically integrated both making and then selling their own product through multiple channels including their own retail stores. Look at Apples stock price for past 20 years versus those others you mention. Target is not very profitable and discounts all the time. Hardly dominant.

The point is you can properly retail and not get sucked into low price and repeated discounting. People don't buy Apple products bc of low price. In fact their products are priced at a premium.

There are a number of bike shops that have figured out how to run their business without discounting, and providing a top notch consumer experience on a number of levels.

With ebikes, it's still an early adopter industry in the US, and I guarantee you a lot of these brands will not be around in 10 years. A lot of online only will not be around, and the same will occur with shops. The heavy discounters will be the first to drop.

The article was really meant for retailers not a consumer audience, but I thought it'd be interesting to see consumer responses and perspectives.

 

[smorgasbord]

When someone designs an eBike as well as Apple designs phones or computers, then they can go and not discount.

BTW, Apple discounted Apple Watches recently - because new ones had just come out.

 

[Oldschool]

You have an interest in how consumers react to impulse buying. Considering myself a middle class average buyer of merchandise here is my two cents worth for your contemplation's. I do not impulse buy merchandise. I impulse buy price. First I decide what I am looking for and then research it so I can find the closest match possible to my wants and desires. I then match those wants and desires to price. I look at all aspects of what I am getting for my dollars. Would I value purchasing from a local business versus mail order at a higher price, sure, but I would definitely look to see what am I going to get for paying a higher price. If I feel i'm not going to get much more than I would from a mail order company then I'm not spending the extra dollars. If that shop isn't within a reasonable distance to my location then, to me it becomes a mail order supplier regardless. Here is where the impulse buy comes in. I know what I want and I know what I'm willing to pay for it. Now it's a question of who is going to get my business. In a mail order scenario as long as all factors are equal as far as suppliers, it's going to be the supplier who gives me the price closest to what I am willing to pay. You can discount an ebike from $1000.00 to $50.00. But if I am not interested in that model then I'm not going to buy it, period. On the other hand if I'm doing my daily price check and xyz company just just dropped the price of " the ebike I want " , then, that price is what makes me push the " buy now " button. To compare ebikes to Apple, one would have to design and build and market their own ebike and no one elses. Then the comparison would be " apples to apples".