MYSTERY SHOPPER | NOTTINGHAM SPONSORED BY
Rouleur Ltd publishes the acclaimed cycling magazines Rouleur and Privateer. These are sold exclusively through subscription and IBDs only
Independent’s
In the past chain stores have surprised Mystery Shopper with some surprisingly strong performances, challenging the notion that personal service doesn’t exist within larger companies. Would that be the case in city with as strong a heritage of independent cycle business as Nottingham? Mystery Shopper does the rounds…
Freewheel
IT'S ALWAYS encouraging to be met within a minute or so of entering a store and Freewheel’s female assistant came forward quickly as her colleagues handled other trade.
Giving the assistant a wide budget of between £400 and £800 to work with, I was pleased to be sold the advantages of investing in a bike and its longevity – all justified with reasons aside from simply the weight. Pointing to a Trek on sale from £900 to just a shade
The winner of Mystery Shopper will receive Star Store Status and will win a display, magazine and book bundle from Rouleur Ltd – purveyors of exceptional cycling literature
12 BIKEBIZ FEBRUARY
under my upper budget limit, she began to discuss the vibration dampening properties of a carbon fork specced at this price. Further to this, it was explained that at the lower end of my budget I'd get Shimano's unbranded groupsets, which would be of a lower quality in both performance and wear life. I left with a business card with the bike's model penned on the back, which some may go on to use as a tool to buy online. However considering the discounted price and extremely strong sales pitch an impulse buy, or the chances of my return would have been greatly improved.
Evans Cycles
LOCATED ON a busy street, this branch of Evans had high footfall at the time of our visit, forcing Mystery Shopper to stalk another customer around the store. With a stroke of luck, the genuine customer was in the
market for a road bike, similar to the one sought by Mystery Shopper in every way aside from the price. Coming in with a budget of around £2,000 the customer was immediately led to the shop floor computer to browse the store's website. Odd, considering the available stock in store. Nonetheless the eavesdropping continued. Demonstrating to the customer the width of Evans' stock, the assistant dropped in further questions on intended use and mileage, seemingly changing his recommendations based on each answer received. Perhaps a little too much time was spent in front of
the screen, but the customer didn't seem to mind. It's not the first time I've witnessed Evans' staff rely on the luxury of shop floor computers to sell bikes. It does, however, neglect the best bit of introducing a customer to a bike – the touch and feel that so often bonds a prospective buyer to a purchase.
BIKEBIZ.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88