Bikes' direct sales to boom for good

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis might hopefully be over, but some of its effects are still to be seen in the present and the near future. And evolutions have to be also expected in the World of sports. 

At Vitesse, we have been working in cycling for roughly 30 years as Press Office, PR, Media Relations, event organizers, and digital strategists. Our substantial background enabled us to give a wide-angle look at the two-wheels World and spot ten remarkable trends that might establish themselves in the coming months or years. 

Our predictions will come in different blogs. Some of those might sound bold, but we believe they all have chances to become a reality, sooner rather than later. 

Bikes' direct sales to boom for good

One notorious effect COVID-19 has had on the market was raising the volume of online sales, while also significantly widening its user base. Regardless of the different Countries' attitude toward digital and technology, the figures show that the peak of online demand has not dropped significantly even after the lockdown: new users have discovered online shopping and its potential, and are now through the technical and psychological barriers to seize it in full. 

For several years, some of the best brands in the cycling world have started selling only online. The lockdown has significantly affected the sell-in (as well as the sell-out, obviously) for many companies, with everything implicated in terms of revenues. Hence, we would not be shocked to see the transition towards an all-online sales and distribution accelerate for many companies, leaving the old traditional model and its many inefficiencies behind. If you think of cycling products other than bikes, it's hard to argue that Amazon is already the reference dealers for most cycling passionates.

We believe this tendency is now going to stick also in the "main" category: bikes themselves. If some brands were born "online-only," like Canyon, YT, Radon, and Rose, during the lockdown, some other companies have tested the water. For instance, Cannondale has implemented the home delivery of bikes, while Bianchi has opened online orders for a special-edition bike, Aria Bianco-Italia, not available through the sales network. Both initiatives seem to have collected very encouraging results. 

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