DISTRIBUTOR
favourite steeds with the products they want. Again, this is another opportunity for good bike shops with full-service facilities to shine.”
The transport revolution While the bulk of Ison’s brands cater to the mountain bike and BMX sector, from Identiti jump bikes, to Halo wheels, and Demolition BMX components, the company has also launched into the micromobility revolution with Benno e-cargo bikes. Townsend sees a number of long term drivers for
the bike industry - leisure time plus fitness and health desires for all age groups, concerns over congestion in the urban environment, demand for greener transport solutions, increasing media coverage of cycling disciplines in competition sport, and access to sports with an added adrenaline rush. He said: “I believe that e-bikes and micromobility scooters
Halo Wheels is an in-house brand for Ison
Silver linings But Townsend said it’s not all gloom and doom heading into 2023, as Ison hopes to have good product availability, while consumer’s loyalty to their favourite brands can help keep the cycling sector strong. He said: “I am also very much conscious of something my
father said to me many times during his decades in business: ‘when things get tough, cycling tends to do okay’. After all is said and done, the cycling industry overall has some bright lights at the end of whatever tunnel we feel we might currently be in.” Townsend said that online retailers may have reaped
the benefits of Covid lockdowns, but that consumers are now choosing to return to cycle shops, particularly those offering good service, well-stocked showrooms, and competitive pricing. He added: “Aside from the potential for new bicycle
sales to continue to be reasonable as the underlying bicycle market grows for the future, I think there will be significant opportunities for dealers involved in offering upgrades and servicing for what is almost certainly an expanded customer base of cyclists as one of the legacy benefit effects of Covid lockdowns. I firmly believe that even if the cost-of-living crisis bites many households in the short-term, those cyclists among them who might choose to put off their next new bike purchase are still going to fix and fettle their
are set to increase, but right now I don’t foresee muscle bikes becoming totally redundant as a direct consequence. If anything, the technical advancement of e-bikes and micromobility devices and cargo bike delivery services will serve to increase the acceptance, infrastructure investments, and use of the bicycle in all its related forms. “Cycling will continue to evolve, and we, as an industry, will need to adapt to the changes.”
Changing landscape The cycling landscape is changing, according to Townsend, with the shortening of the supply chain structure: “As a consequence, a significant conflict of interest area seems to be emerging between brands and distributors, and larger retailers in their engagement with end consumers. Many brands are in effect becoming retailers and many larger retailers are becoming brands. This scenario can easily inevitably end up with suppliers and trade customers effectively becoming potential competitors instead of partners. “I can see a potential situation where major brands (and/ or large distributors) effectively take the place in the supply chain of some of the existing independent retail shops. I believe this will be less of the case in the more specialist sectors of the market, as the complex number of product options that the specialist sector can end up handling becomes difficult to efficiently scale for a large organisation. I believe that forward looking IBDs and distributors can work more closely together to form a strong mutual bridge position in the specialist market sectors that will allow them to remain competitive in the future.”
‘CYCLING WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE, AND WE, AS AN INDUSTRY, WILL NEED TO ADAPT TO THE CHANGES’ 28 | January 2023
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
