RETAILERS
“I felt the traditional style bike shop and dealer network for sales was still pretty strong in Germany, so it gave us space to be creative with a different concept to integrate riders and bike brands on a more personal level,” comments Hudson. Essentially, Veloroo partners with a lot of bike brands and
facilitates that with a showroom experience and test ride opportunities for the customer. This is backed up by first class aftersale care with ongoing service and warranty support for riders, events, ride outs, and community integration. “[It’s] a one-stop-shop vision from start to finish,” says Hudson. “We, as life long riders and cycling industry enthusiasts, know there is so much more that goes into brand/bike loyalty than just getting the sale over the line. People need to feel part of something when they hand over thousands of Euros and know that they can be supported when required. “For some brands who can be hyper focused on sales it is easily forgotten, and unless you look at the bigger picture, you can not expect a stable future without building solid foundations in other areas outside of the initial sale. Those foundations ultimately drive healthy sales and customer retention.” Veloroo also handles the workshop side, with warranty and service partnerships with those brands. “In Germany quite a lot of normal bike shops won’t touch certain bikes because they say ‘we don’t sell that one’ or they’re already pretty busy with the brands that they do deal with,” says Hudson.
“So there are a lot of customers, especially with the rise in
direct-to-consumer brands, who need somewhere to go for warranty and service work without shipping back to central warehouses in different European countries – which doesn’t make any sense environmentally or economically. “We also offer brands that are not in the local market that want to be activated in the local market, either through testing or in the showroom.”
Bridging the gap It’s well-known that, post-Brexit, many UK businesses have struggled to maintain the same level of custom in Europe due
legal red-tape, tariffs and shipping delays. The list goes on.
With a decade of experience in the UK bike trade and
handful of years in Germany, Hudson
www.bikebiz.com March 2024 | 17 a
and his business partner have personal and professional relationships on both sides of the Channel.
Hudson started to get feedback from industry colleagues in the UK that these hurdles were costing people money and potentially jobs – especially if Germany was a key market. “The main solution [for brands] is to set up a German arm of the company, but then they have to register a business, hire
to
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