IBD FOCUS
so maybe give it a year in terms of expanding the retail space.” But Butternut has still been able to make some major sales, ordering bikes in on request. On my visit to the store, Hudson was just
Employee of the month, Sprocket
wrapping up the sale of a Tern GSD e-cargo bike (retail around £4,500), totalling around £5,000 including accessories – the biggest single sale in Butternut’s short history.
Trading practices
Establishing in the midst of a pandemic may not be the ideal for many young businesses, but Butternut has adapted to its environments, as Hudson has put his own business practices in place to ensure the shop can thrive. A significant focus for Butternut is online reviews, which
Hudson says are both a blessing and a curse to any store: “Online reviews are really important for businesses and we found that if you don’t request the reviews, you don’t get that many. “I have a theory that in a given week, if we get 100 customers
through the shop, 95 are really happy, but you’ll get one every week who’s a problem ,and that one invariably goes to leave a bad review for you, so you’re a bit beholden to that.” Hudson has his own characteristic style of dealing with those
negative reviews, as he will often honestly respond to those comments, and even gently challenge the customer if he feels the review is unfair. Discounting is also a regular topic of discussion in the trade. Butternut Bikes doesn’t offer NHS discount, but instead tries to save its reductions for
customers in financial need. When asked by NHS staff if they offer the traditional discount for health workers, Hudson explains that he will aim to get their bike back to them as quickly as possible, but that he prefers to save discounts for people most in need – NHS customers are often supportive of the initiative, Hudson said. A discount Butternut does offer however, is a 10% reduction for any customers returning with the same bike within a year: “If we see the same bike again within a year for a service, they get 10% off. And when we do get that bike back, we know that we’ve sorted out the problems, we know that it’s going to be a nice quick service.” Next up for Butternut though, Hudson plans to improve communication across stores to help share knowledge, starting with small-scale pub meet-ups, while also expanding the flourishing shop cycling club, encouraging more women to get on the bike, and keeping on eye on any opportunities to expand the retail space to take the store to the next level.
TEAM OF EXPERIENCED
WHEEL BUILDERS Vast range of stock
• Tailored products • Free issue work • Sturmey Archer build easily accommodated • Rapid turnaround and delivery • All wheels hand finished, labelled and bagged
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