BIG INTERVIEW
“The partners can build a relationship with those riders and add an extra revenue stream to their business. For VanMoof, it’s the quickest way to scale up the network and make sure that we have sufficient coverage across the countries.” So far, more than 50 partners have been signed up across
the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and France, with locations in additional cities such as Copenhagen, Vienna and Dublin.
Many of these had worked in collaboration with VanMoof previously in some capacity, so are ready to work with customers straight away. “For new partners we’re organising training in a pragmatic
way,” says de Haas. “We need to figure out per market, which is the most pragmatic way to give them proper training and not make it too cumbersome for everyone involved. “So that could either mean that we invite partners to our workshop in Amsterdam, or if there’s a bunch of partners close by, we’ll send one of our trainers to their location and have the training in their store. We have to come up on a case- by-case [basis] to see what the best way of doing that is.” Once set up, retailers gain access to a partner portal, where they can reach out if they are having a hard time diagnosing an issue.
There’s also a further help centre, quick access to parts, a wide amount of data, videos, and instruction manuals on how to prepare each of the models, as well as an in-house tech programme which has a lot of resources. “We’re very mindful that VanMoof is now going to partners which we were kind of competing with before,” adds Wertheimer.
“So we’re really putting a lot of effort into making it a pleasant experience. “The fact we want to train them is not because VanMoof
bikes are much harder than any other product, it’s because we want to make sure they feel really supported. “And there’s a lot of good tech that allows us to do that super quick. It’s a very integrated, mechanic focused experience.”
28 | May 2024 A bright future
With new leadership and a new retail strategy, VanMoof looks set to harness many of the positives which made it one of the most forward-thinking brands in the the industry. “There’s a reason why I’m still here,” says de Haas. “The fact that we were provided with a second chance, so
to speak, by McLaren Applied is something that excited me so much. Our mission was not done. “And I’m not the only one, everybody that rejoined the company has that same motivation to make it work this time.” Wertheimer says his team worked “endlessly” to understand what went wrong with VanMoof initially and they were positively surprised once they scratched beneath the surface. “We saw such advanced product tech, such advanced hardware features that weren’t being utilised,” he continues. “On the brand, we thought it was resilient. There was a lot of positivity with fans and people encouraging that issues could be fixed. “On the ‘big problems’ they were all things you could understand and work towards fixing in the short to medium term. “We inherited a lot of amazing things. We have years of growth, best selling sales, followed by massive stress and pressure on the business, which were well documented.” VanMoof 2.0 will use the mistakes from the past and learn from them, as shown by addressing a major hurdle with a service network. “Our goals are not smaller than before,” says Wertheimer. “In our product design cycles we’re really focusing on the core essence of VanMoof in terms of design, technology and the features we’re adding, but at the same time leveraging learnings from the past “We think we can really do this right.”
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
