MICROMOBILITY
“When people walk by our showroom and see our bikes two things happen. First, they see a bike that looks like something out of the future and they wonder if it’s actually real. Then they see our Wheel-Motor and their curiosity level goes sky high because they’ve never seen anything like it, and that’s when the magic begins. At that point they don’t even know where to start with questions so that’s why the Verge Team that works in our showrooms is so important. “They basically understand that the reason we have physical retail is to enable customers to learn about our bike, our company and our vision for the future in whatever way the customer wants to … not the way we want them to.” Blankenship says that the goal is to have the customer guide the conversation to wherever they want it to go. They may want to know everything there is to know about the Wheel-Motor, or they might want to know more about why the bike doesn’t have a chain or transmission. They could be curious about the company’s history, or they might just want to get on the bike and take a picture. “Any or all of those outcomes are 100% fine with us,” he
adds. “The customer guides the conversation so they get
whatever information they want, and when they want more they simply stop back and see us again the next time they visit the shopping centre.
“This is the type of engagement you can only have in physical retail and our showroom goal is very simple… Everyone who leaves is smiling.”
Location Location Location Choosing Westfield London as the place to start selling a premium electric motorcycle may seem strange on the face of it, but the concept is becoming normalised, especially in the car industry. BYD, Genesis and Tesla all use Westfield London to showcase their products and it appears to be paying off. But why?
“Westfield London is the perfect place to actively engage with as many people as possible on a day-in-day-out basis when they are not thinking about buying a motorcycle,” explains Blankenship.
“This gives us the opportunity to introduce our company, our advanced technology and our bike in a way that is interesting and informative vs trying to ‘sell them a bike today’ from an inventory of bikes that might or might not be the exact bike they want. “We want our customers to enjoy their entire journey with us, from the day they first discover us at Westfield London to the day they buy their third or fourth bike from us 20 years later. It’s about creating a connection that gets better and better as time goes by.” The UK electric motorcycle market is far from fully mature.
It may even be decades away from that point. But Verge is laying the foundations in preparation for when that time comes. And in the immediate term, the brand will be putting bums on saddles and smiles on faces. Blankenship says: “What I hope to see is a lot of people riding our bike for the first time and returning from their ride with a huge smile on their face because they just experienced something they never expected.”
34 | August 2024
www.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
