I recently spoke with a retailer who had expressed some nervousness at a growing trend: the mobile (van-based) bike shop. Even though these mobile bike shops have existed for a while in many markets, Velofix and Beeline are making solid in-roads and getting a lot of press. Back in April, Velofix announced its 100th franchise. Outside Magazine has written about them. But what is the fear of the mobile bike shop about?
Most of what I hear (and what I’ll address in this post) is fear of the unknown. Being a little afraid of a new business style that is well-branded and easy for the consumer to use is justified. But make no mistake, these franchises have a serious uphill battle.
Let’s shine some light on the unknown. Cycling has a mostly stagnant (or declining) participant base and these van-based newcomers have to ‘unseat’ their incumbent competitors. The only way to do that is with reduced pricing, a great experience, meaningful added value and/or convenience. Without one (or several) of these things, the model is another well-funded, idle threat like the Segway or Drugstore.com. Let’s look at how these four things play out.
- Reduced Pricing has no home in the mobile bike-shop model. They’re on-par with traditional bicycle store because labor is expensive and the skills gap is real. No threat here.
- When it comes to having a great experience, the van-based model has at least one major hurdle: No one wants to hang out in a van while someone works on your bike. Your choice is a hot van or the combination of A/C and diesel fumes. I’ll take most any current bicycle retail location over either of those.
- Additional value: There is a minimum charge for many Velofix/Beeline vans to come to you and render services. One of the ways van-based businesses can get around this is to work with major corporate clients (where many customers can access a van at once). Calling this additional value is tough because the customer is still loading/unloading the bike for transport and service.
- Convenience: Especially in major cities where driving is a challenge and parking a hassle, this is where the van-based model could shine. For that minimum charge, the van comes to your house, does the work and you never have to load/unload your bike, look for parking, pay parking and so on.
So how do you make your service area more convenient for your customers? Easy: Buy a van and offer pick-up and drop-off services.
Presto, you now have ALL the advantages.
Check out my follow-up to this post, where we explore the costs associated with this strategy.