Around the Workstand

In this episode, we talk about October marketing ideas for bike shops as we move from summer into fall. We focus on how stores can use the seasonal shift to promote new arrivals, support in-store sales, and keep the website aligned with what customers see in the shop.

We start with fall apparel and merchandising. We suggest social posts, email updates, and simple in-store events to show new clothing, layering options, and seasonal products. We also discuss keeping fall merchandise separate from spring items and using mannequins and layered displays to make products easier to understand.

We then cover sale organization for older spring inventory. We recommend marking down items that will not return, keeping sale racks clear, showing original prices next to sale prices, and using size markers so both staff and customers can find items easily. We also note that the website should carry similar apparel content, including winter cycling guides and layering advice.

Next, we talk about daylight saving time ending in November and how the shorter days create a chance to highlight bike lights and reflective gear. We also mention Halloween as an opportunity for group rides, costumes, and simple prizes that bring the community into the shop.

Finally, we discuss fall sales and holiday planning. We talk about preserving cash flow by moving stale inventory, updating sale messaging so it feels current, and speaking with suppliers about special buys and Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals. We close by emphasizing that store and website messaging should work together to help customers decide and buy.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Summer is closing up, kids are headed back to school, and September can be the gateway to the holiday season if you're prepared. Here are our tips for marketing your store in September. What did we miss? What works for you?

• Back to School
  • Historically, K-12 schools start the day after Labor Day, but in some districts, schools can start as early as mid-July through August.  
    • A great time to sell locks, commuter bikes, kids' bikes, helmets. Also, think about other security measures such as Apple AirTag holders from MucOff or Topeak.
  • Colleges start classes in September…talk to your local campus police departments about new fleets
    • Sales to campus police don’t stop with the bikes; there are police decals, police bags, police-specific lights ...and don’t forget service!  
    • These aren’t typical retail sales; they often require a check to be mailed in from the Accounts Payable department, so plan for that difference in cash flow early
• Labor Day Sale
  • It doesn’t have to start and end on Labor Day; ride it out for a week or two. 
  • Adjust Google Hours if you are closed
• Spring/Summer Apparel
  • What hasn’t moved yet …let’s start marking those jerseys down ...make room for the fall apparel that is just about to hit your dock
  • For non-perishables, such as black gloves, bibs, shorts, etc., you can keep those at full price.  Maybe take inventory on them, so if you store them away, you at least know the inventory is correct.
• Holiday Planning - not too early to think about the holidays
  • Black Friday offers
  • Special buys from your vendors (socks, sun sleeves, hats…stocking stuffers)
    • Talk to your reps, find out what they are heavy on
• We have a great E-Bike Premium Page which has great data for great SEO, AEO and GEO…talk with your account coordinator to get that added to your site
  •  Search Engine, Answer Engine, Generative Engine
  • New E-Bike page coming, here’s an existing E-Bike Page - see all of our Premium Content Packages

https://youtu.be/xAC5EuPYeXo - Debunking ecommerce myths

https://blog.workstand.com/bicycle-chain-case-study - Case Study 

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Bike shop owners and managers are often diligent about merchandising in their stores. The same type of attention can make a positive difference on bike shop websites. Let's talk about homepage merchandising! It's exciting, right?

• “Above the fold” - what this means and why it’s important
• Banners:
  • Highlighting important topics (free shipping threshold, special events, special store hours, etc.)....Only text with links
• Header:
  • These can be customized for a unique look
• Navigators:
  • Focused
  • Not too cluttered
  • Sale navigator
  • Resources - up-to-date resources - events page, for example.
  • Services - Bike Repair, Fitting, Bike Rentals
• Homepage Hero/Highlight
  • Hot topics with engaging graphics
  • Rotators/Slideshows - just not too many
  • Refreshed at least 1 per month
  • For increased SEO, the graphic should have selectable, readable text, not just text baked into the image itself, as search engines can’t read that well
• Highlight focused brands with a logo carousel with links
• Highlight focused categories in blocks….These can be seasonal, meaning: lights, trainers, winter/summer apparel, cargo, etc.
• Staff Picks
• Social Media/Instagram feed
• Review feed
• Pop-Up forms ...asking for email to be added to email list, maybe in exchange for a discount.
• Clean footer with extra resources such as policy/return pages, career opportunities, etc. 
• Consider a Premium Theme for a reasonable price, get a semi-custom designed homepage
• PRO TIP: It’s great to add custom images of your shop or staff to your site…but PLEASE be aware of the backgrounds …is the background messy?  

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

In our Monthly Marketing Series, we'll be taking a look at the upcoming month and discussing tips and tactics to plan for holidays, seasonal trends, and a general marketing calendar to help bike shops stay ahead of the game and ready to capture sales. This month, we plan for August 2026.

End of Summer Clearance Sale - The Tour de France is over, and summer is winding down.  For some retailers, invoices for big orders are due, and there is a need to turn some slow-moving inventory into cash. Fall is just around the corner, and now is the time to sell off spring/summer apparel to make way for fall/winter apparel.

Action Item: Analyze your inventory for slow movers and spring/summer apparel. Depending on the quantity, consider a general category markdown or individual sale prices. Sale prices don’t need to be at closeout discounts…perhaps start at 20% off.  Once you’ve whittled down your core sizes, mark down the extreme sizes to 30-40% off. 

Back to School Campaign - Know when your school districts are heading back to school… some districts can be as early as mid-July… historically it's mid-August. Consider the following: 

• Kids Bicycle Trade-In campaign - Where all trade-in bikes go to a local charity. 
• Free kids bike safety check - This should be a 10-15 minute check, checking: tire wear/tear, tire pressure, bolts are secure, brakes are in good order, and chain is lubed.  Opportunity to sell brake pads, bells, and bags/baskets.  
• Helmet Discounts - Discounts on helmets when trading in old helmets
• Lock Discounts
• Pannier bags, etc.

Action Item: Find a local charity that is looking for bike donations. Make sure service staff understands the opportunity to sell pads, lube, etc. on safety checks. 

Workstand Library and Premium Pages for August:

• Kids bike guide
• BMX bike guide showing different styles of BMX bikes and P&A
• Custom Bike Builds
• End of Season Sale (premium for retailers on our Marketing subscription)

What to think about:

• Labor Day is Monday, September 7
  • Are you open/closed? Update your hours on your website, Google Business listing, and all the socials
• Holiday Season is just around the corner
  • Check your inventory on gift cards

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Prices for products displayed on websites are a topic we frequently discuss both internally and with Workstand website users. Rather than a deep dive into advanced troubleshooting methods, today, we will point out the main sources of the prices displayed and the easy solutions to explore. Beyond that, our Client Success Team is always ready to help.

• Point of Sale data
• Custom Prices tool
• Workstand product library
• Supplier data
• MAP Pricing

https://workstand.com/help/pricing-troubleshooting
https://workstand.com/help/custom-prices
https://workstand.com/help/pos-sync

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Mark Still and Alex Slocum, Workstand's Director of Product, discuss the current state of AI and its effect on consumer behavior, shopping, and the continued (growing even) advantage of local retail.

• Most people hear or even say ‘AI’ daily - what is AI now and what is it not?
  • LLMs defined
• LLMs as a business leveler
  • The opportunity for the bike industry 
  • Product discovery has always changed and evolved
  • Visibility in LLMs - SEO/AEO/GEO, structured data, robots.txt/llms.txt
• Brick and Mortar Expertise is even more valuable
  • Discerning what is valuable from the mass of information generated by LLMs
  • Using LLMs to drive shoppers to the store, where staff expertise can convert
• How Workstand is supporting LLM discovery
• How/where might bike shop owners and managers leverage AI in their day to day?
  • Repetitive tasks - bookkeeping, communication, scheduling?

LLMs like OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and others aren't magic, and they aren't creative. They certainly don't produce unique content or answers. In fact, they are the opposite of 'unique'. More like a cover band than an original artist, but they can help answer complicated questions, and they are very good at dealing with large amounts of data and predicting the responses we're all looking for. Even if they often produce AI slop and wrong answers while still hallucinating as often as not, when you know what you want but not how to produce the answer, they can seem magical. They can help create decent marketing content such as brand-specific landing pages for your website, which can be very beneficial given the landscape of product discovery these days. Remember bike magazines? Mountain Bike Action, Velonews, that's how we used to learn about new products. Then came blogs and Google search. Well, now it's AI and LLMs, and the more relevant content bike shops have on their website, the more likely they are to be referenced in product discovery. Workstand helps more than 1,200 bike shops across North America compete in this way, and sometimes, AI helps a store narrow down what they want while we polish and finalize it for their website, saving time and money and making the store more agile and effective. Are you trying such tactics?

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

We're not saying it doesn't take a focused effort or real work. What we are saying is that many of the barriers that local, independent bike shops continue to believe rule them out of meaningful sales growth are no longer valid. Workstand has the tools and expertise to help every bike shop, from the local, owner-operated store to the multi-location, high-revenue operation, leverage online sales and technology to grow in a space all of their customers already inhabit.

Don't let these misconceptions hold you back! Workstand can prove to you that these are not real.

• Small retailers lack the scale and infrastructure to compete against the price and reach of e-commerce giants.
• A retailer’s sales potential is limited by the physical inventory they can fit inside their four walls.
• Increasing e-commerce order volume requires a proportional increase in staff to manage packing, shipping, and logistics.
• Competitive e-commerce requires a massive upfront investment in custom web development, expensive hardware, and a high-burn marketing budget.
• The high cost of shipping bikes and components makes e-commerce margins unsustainable for smaller retailers.

Bonus Pro Tip - Turn your museum into a cash flow machine

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

Google Local Product & Awareness Ads are some of the best levers we have to capture both high-intent shoppers who are ready to buy the products in stock on your floor now and people simply looking for a bike shop for service or answers to general sales questions.

Our four-person ads team, led by today's guest, Matt Viara, has decades of bicycle retail and Google ads experience. They can help you find and convert the shoppers that mean the most to your business.

Here's the last time we had Matt on, when we dug super deep into all of our ad programs.

If today's focus on local markets isn't what you're looking for, we can certainly help your store go national with its sales efforts. Reach out to [email protected], and we'll book some time to get started!

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

We delve into the mission behind the livestream, which will offer clients an engaging medium to explore topics that impact their retail operations and learn how Workstand can help them facilitate growth. 

The first monthly session, on March 17th at 9:30am MDT, is set to focus on landing page content and the page editor, combining the "how-tos" with the reasons behind their importance in a retail context. This comprehensive approach allows us to not only discuss best practices but also how these strategies can influence organic search and customer engagement. Raquel emphasizes the value of collaborative learning, making it easier for retail clients to absorb information while relating it directly to their day-to-day operations.

Raquel encourages feedback and topic suggestions from listeners, highlighting the importance of tailoring our content to meet user needs and interests. Our overarching goal is to foster community engagement and continuous learning, helping bike shops understand the full potential of the tools we offer for elevating their businesses.

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].

As we approach spring 2026, thinking about the product mix in-store and online can make a huge difference in a local bike shop's success as prime riding weather returns to many parts of North America.

What are your potential customers searching for online? What would they buy with that new bike if only you had it in stock and in front of them before all of the excitement of new bike day fades? When is it wise to hold a full size run, and when should you experiment with one or two of something?

Pro tip: Helmets on test rides. First of all, should be mandatory for all of the liability reasons. Second, all helmets used for test rides should be nice, new, and clean. They should be helmets that you want to sell more of. Why? Listen and find out, then let us know your approach to inventory strategy this year. 

Be sure to email your questions to [email protected]. We read all emails sent, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you're a Workstand client with questions about your subscription, email [email protected] or call 303-527-0676 x 1. If you are not currently a Workstand client with questions about how our programs work, email [email protected].

Find Us on LinkedIn
Mark Still, Senior Business Development
David Martinez, Key Accounts Advisor

We also publish Around the Workstand on our YouTube channel if you'd like to watch while you listen. Here is our Around the Workstand playlist.

If you have any questions about the topics discussed in this episode of Around the Workstand or if you have ideas for new topics we can cover, schedule a time to meet with Mark Still here or email [email protected].