Around the Workstand

Ryan has again been on the move. Visiting Workstand team members and merchants in Oregon recently. He'll be here in Colorado soon!

• July Platform metrics
  • Total online sales last month showed a recovery from the slowing trend of May and June, which was a likely hangover from the pre-tariff burst in March and April. 
  • Total order volume and units sold were relatively flat, but higher average order value drove results. 
  • Higher prices on mountain bikes had the largest impact based on volume and higher price points. 
  • It’s hard to isolate whether import taxes and inflation impacted this number, but more apparent in children’s bikes. 
  • Unit sales for children’s bikes were down 31%, and prices were up 34%. Sport Performance road continues the strong performance for the year. 
  • Overall site traffic continues to be down, but add to cart and conversion rates remain high. This combination is possibly due to increased zero click search behavior, and a higher percentage of traffic intent on buying. 
  • Merchants across categories are growing online, not just high volume sellers. 
  • Ecommerce sales across the board outperforming in-store sales in the IBD channel could play into our favor in selling websites for the remainder of the year.
• May Total IBD Retail Sales Results 
  • Total bike industry retail sales (including mass merchants) was down 3.3% in May.
  • Prices are increasing at mass merchant retailers more than at independent bike dealers, but it’s still too early to tell the effects of tariffs on bike prices. 
  • The report highlights that sales in most categories peaked in March, with sales softening in April and May. 
  • But shop services have remained relatively steady and electric bikes have remained in the positive growth category.  
• Policy
  • De minimis exemption eliminated
  • Import taxes “more permanent”
    • If this policy does stay in place, then several countries the bicycle industry relies on for production are heavily impacted
    • The administration also announced it is raising tariffs on Canada to 35%, 
    • China was exempted for the moment, the temporary agreement with China was set to expire but the exemption was extended
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics data concerns
    • Political involvement in firing the head, nominated a partisan for the role
    • Need reliable data for business decisions, very concerning

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 is joined this week by Matt Viara, leader of the Workstand paid Google ads team. What are paid ads? How do we help bike shops participate in paid Google programs? What are the costs and benefits? We talk about all of that!

We give a high-level overview of our paid ads programs and touch on the 4 offerings that we’ll discuss in detail during the episode.

• Why Local and Full Service?
• What is product vs awareness?
• Why do we differentiate in that way?

With that groundwork in place, we’ll move to explaining each program and who should consider them.

Deeper explanation of each program:

• Local Awareness 
  • Help local consumers find you via the most popular general search terms. Great for connecting with local people who don’t have a preferred shop
  • Get top map pack placement via sponsored ads in search results
• Local Product + Local Feed
  • Show people close by that you have the products they are looking for in stock in store
• Product
  • The best way to jump start your ecommerce
  • Target regionally or nationally
• Awareness
  • On top of local Search Ads we can also get the word out about seasonal content, sales, events via Display (image) and YouTube video ads

FAQ:

• Costs of the different programs?
• Are there any setup fees?
• How are budgets determined?
• How long are retailers committed to the program?
• How do we set expectations for results? Dollars, sales growth, timelines?
• How personalized are these programs for a specific retailer?
• How do we deal with serving multiple Workstand merchants in the same market?

You can reach Matt Viara at [email protected] or read more about all of these programs.

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].

Boulder visit

• Doggy happy hour
• Coffee
• Bike ride
• PFB let me work from their office

Upcoming BRAIN article about scheduling software

• Service Appointment Scheduling feature (drop off)
• WorkstandIQ staff scheduling

NBDA State of the Industry webinar reinforces our value

• The recent National Bicycle Dealers Association hosted a webinar with expert guests, with a lot of time spent talking about what successful retail looks like. 
• Turns out our company perfectly matches their recommendations. 
• Speakers were adamant about the need for merchants to have an ecommerce presence.
• You can find the recording on the NBDA YouTube channel.

June Platform Sales Results

• High single digit growth in June, but also continues the downward trend from March/April results of over 25% growth.
• Isolating our “typical dealer”, which removes top performers, June online sales were slightly down. I really want clients to work on getting their website aligned with best practices and engaged with our marketing services like Google Ads. 
• Platform traffic was down significantly in June, but conversion rate, average order value, and revenue per session were up.
• Only a handful of analog bicycle categories showed growth; gravel, full suspension MTB, and BMX. 
• Electric bikes were up in every category
• Helmets and shoes did very well for the month. Helmets are good signals for overall ridership and shoes signal enthusiast riders needing more performance.

April Total IBD Retail Sales Results

• PeopleForBikes released total April sales results showing the total IBD sales (in-store and online reported by Circana) was virtually flat with 2024. 
• The top line sales results were positively impacted by very strong service department sales, +11% for the month. 
• Top bicycle categories continue to be throttle assist electric bikes for transit, leisure, mountain, and cargo. Class 3 electric road bikes are showing solid growth too. 
• Gravel and hardtail mountain bikes showed the best growth in the analog category. 
• BMX bike unit sales were +8% continuing a promising trend largely influenced by younger riders
• Children’s bike unit sales were up slightly overall

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].

Ryan and Mark discuss results from May, with a quick note on the strong March and April numbers that we didn't get to talk about due to Ryan's many travels when we'd normally record an Around the Workstand episode.

We mention this recent episode with our Key Accounts Advisor, David Martinez, and the Digital Advisor Service he's offering Workstand clients

NBDA Summit recap

• A good number of supplier attendees
• Solid presentations
• Don’t know about the May date, stores are busy, but the meeting is valuable
• Finally get Bentonville, so much going on there
• NBDA Summits are great, try to make a 2026 event

May results

• Online sales in May were +17.5%, with order volume +21.5%. 
• Promising sign for the health of the market and online sales at bike shops
• Bike sales did, however, decline in dollars and units, with electric, road, mountain, and BMX showing growth but offset by declines in other categories. 
• I’m still speculating that the early peak of bicycle sales in March and April was driven in large part by consumers attempting to beat tariffs, but new product releases and popularity in the growth categories are also contributors. 
• Overall platform growth is coming across the board from parts, accessories, and apparel. 
• Those are good indicators that people are riding bikes and engaging with cycling. 
• On the whole, the results are outperforming my expectations
• That being said, I don't hear a lot of positives about YTD results when I talk with clients
• Online sales are a bright spot, but in many parts of the country, foot traffic and total sales are down

U.S. Bicycle Production and Assembly Act

• Legislation introduced in Congress this week would eliminate tariffs on components used to assemble complete bikes in the U.S.
• Goal is to create hubs as a step toward frame manufacturing
• Chris Cocalis founded Pivot Cycles and Charlie Cooper with PFB at BLC

Celebrating Pride Month and we'll be close for Juneteenth, but will have an on-call team for support. So, response times may be a bit slower than normal, but still reach out if you need help.

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].

The idea of leveraging catalog-enabled websites and ecommerce to grow sales beyond a retailer's home market is one of the main reasons Workstand has so many bike shops using our platform. In addition to the website platform, Workstand's marketing agency team helps more than 400 stores manage their digital presence and promote their store locally and nationally. As our Key Accounts Advisor, David Martinez wraps all of that technology and marketing know-how up and combines it with his years of experience in successful bike shops to add in-store processes, strategic buying and inventory management, and professional presentation of all aspects of a purchase to elevate local bike shops as effective commerce merchants. Most people think selling online is all about price, but David has proven repeatedly that it is more about high-level execution in buying, inventory management, and customer experience that allows any store to sell more and grow faster.

We talk about all of that in this episode of Around the Workstand and encourage all stores to reach out to David at [email protected] to learn more and enroll in our Digital Advisor Service.

https://workstand.com/bike-shop-marketing
https://marketing.smartetailing.net/products/email-automations-pg197.htm
https://marketing.smartetailing.net/products/google-ads-pg182.htm
https://marketing.smartetailing.net/products/email-marketing-pg207.htm
https://marketing.smartetailing.net/products/premium-content-packages-pg101.htm
https://workstand.com/bike-shop-performance

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].

Ryan Atkinson has continued his travels and brings us the latest in how brands, suppliers, and merchants in bicycle retail are feeling during some uncertain times. There are bright spots and some optimism, particularly among retailers. 

Themes from industry events

1. Bicycle Leadership Conference (suppliers)
2. NBDA Retailer Summit (both) - join the Midwest event in Bentonville in May
3. CABDA West (both)

• Uncertainty among suppliers, optimism with dealers
• Tariff confusion and frustration
• Throttle electric bikes
• Used and pre-owned
• Tap into health/beauty, active lifestyle, prioritize health
• Profitability
• Ecommerce

March online sales performance

• US sales +9% and orders +7%
• CA sales -18% and orders -32% (sporting goods generally -6.9%)
• Dollar growth was fueled by road and mountain bikes, plus the surprise performance of comfort and commuter bikes. Electric bikes had a surprising slump.
• CA non-essential discretionary down, calls from concerned clients
• US consumers getting ahead of tariffs

Cyclingnews article on DeMinimis (Ryan’s rant)

• Bummed how they characterized Bob Margevicius’ testimony
• Bob is a VP for Specialized
• He’s an exceptional representative for our industry on trade issues
• Nobody knows EU, Asian, and US manufacturing/trade as well
• Tireless contributor and just awarded PFB lifetime achievement award
• Author conflated legitimate tariff frustration with DeMinimis
• DeMinimus exemption increased to $800 in 2016
• PFB has lobbied for change since
• Reason for so much cheap product disrupting IBD market
• Cheap D2C electric bikes, cheap helmets and lights on Temu, etc
• Unsafe for consumers, erodes value proposition for retailers, takes away high margin retail sales
• I want to encourage listeners not to spread click bait rumors just because they think the headline gets attention

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 this episode, we delve into the intricacies of conducting successful promotions, a pivotal segment in our ongoing year-long marketing program aimed at empowering businesses. We focus on strategies that not only help retailers remain competitive but also enhance customer engagement, particularly as we approach the prime spring sale season. Our discussion emphasizes that promotions extend beyond discounts; they can also include introducing new products or spotlighting significant changes within a business.

https://blog.workstand.com/successful-sales

We start by laying a strong foundation: your website serves as the digital storefront that consumers first interact with. We stress the importance of ensuring your website is user-friendly and accurately reflects any promotional efforts you undertake. This includes maintaining consistency between online pricing and in-store prices to avoid alienating customers. Customers today are well-informed and intermediaries like your website often form their first impression, so we highlight the necessity of making it easy for them to find information and navigate through promotional content.

Emphasizing the logistics of running a promotion, we tackle essential operational aspects such as point-of-sale (POS) system synchronization, which ensures consistency across platforms. Details like enabling shopping cart functionality for in-store pick-ups and offering financing options through partners like Klarna and PayPal allow businesses to provide a seamless shopping experience that can significantly impact conversions.

As we transition from logistics to aesthetics, we explain the need for a compelling homepage hero image that reflects the current promotion—a focal point to capture attention upon entry to the website. We reminisce about the importance of keeping content relevant and up-to-date, ensuring that promotional messaging resonates with seasonal themes. 

When it comes to actual outreach, we prioritize email as one of the most cost-effective methods to notify customers of promotions. Social media plays a complementary role, providing a platform for sharing specific products, staff picks, and engaging visuals that build excitement. We also cover paid advertising strategies, including Google Shopping ads and the use of YouTube ads, which can be powerful tools to reach wider audiences and drive targeted traffic during promotional periods.

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].

Ryan is back with us after some travel, but he's not done yet! There are a few more trade shows and industry gatherings on the horizon, and he'll be presenting at most of them. We talk about those shows and the state of the bicycle industry, and the vibe and attitude of the dealers Ryan is meeting at shows like CABDA.

• CABDA Midwest
  • Split, dealers looking to diversity with ecommerce growth
  • Dealers looking for foot traffic
  • Universal interest in Google advertising
  • Lot of POS conversations
  • Lot of praise for our customer service team 
• Seminars for CABDA and with suppliers like Specialized, QBP, and J&B
• CABDA West
  • Day early for the NBDA retailer summit
  • Heather and her team host important conversations
  • 2 days of CABDA connecting with largely western dealers
  • Vibe from Chicago was optimistic
  • Hoping for the same thing
• Bicycle Leadership Conference next week
  • PeopleForBikes
  • Senior management from suppliers
  • Weighty topics like finance, forecasting, and government policy
  • Sustainability, ridership, and health benefits of cycling
  • On a panel discussion reviewing 2024 data and looking ahead
  • Real discussions will happen off the stage
  • Expect to learn a lot about sentiment and expectations
• Online sales
  • Last year online sales on Workstand outpaced the overall IBD space
  • 2025 is off to a good start
  • Up 7% through the end of February
  • Largely driven by twice as many electric bikes sold online YTD
  • Site traffic is -12% suggesting a drop in shopping activity
  • Electric bikes are driving up average order size and revenue per session
  • Make sure you’re actively marketing your electric bikes online
  • Consumers are buying
• Optimism for the spring
  • Overall economy and consumers are uncertain
  • Bike shops on the whole are running business lean
  • Gotta keep energy levels up to keep staff motivated
  • Be ready to be busy
  • Do the work to get busy
  • Ramp up marketing to get foot traffic and try to get some momentum
  • Lean into the categories that are moving
    • Electric bikes
      • Class 2
      • Class 3 road and mountain
    • Aluminum drop bar bikes
  • Market your service department starting now

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 continue our series on marketing your business for sales growth in-store and online in 2025 with tips on website and marketing setups that make shopping your online store easier and reduce purchase friction,

For more details, check out our latest blog post - https://blog.workstand.com/make-shopping-easy

• Design - minimal clutter, accessibility 
• Make it easy for shoppers to find what they are looking for
  • Search function
  • Navigation - minimal clicks, don’t bury the shop button, organization
  • Distinct calls to action - send shoppers to intuitive links where they can purchase the item your suggesting
  • Single page checkout - new enhancement 
• Follow up and post purchase communications
  • The purchase journey does not end when they complete their purchase on your website - think of this as just the first step in their next purchase with you
  • Communicate clear fulfillment expectations
• Leverage your website to keep them coming back
  • Keep fresh content up so return visitors see something new
  • WorkstandIQ Loyalty - automated, transactional emails

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].

Around the Workstand Daily - we are often asked about training and our How To videos are the most viewed videos we produce so Around the Workstand Daily hopes to address frequent, short, videos to help our clients learn important features and do so more efficiently than the production work that goes into a more planned video. So, they won’t be perfect sometimes but they’ll help those who would rather watch a video than read a help center article. Here's our Around the Workstand Daily playlist on YouTube.

Ryan and Brian are at CABDA - visit them at booth #815

What’s working best for Workstand retailers? 

• Google ads
• Supplier sync and direct fulfillment
• Premium themes - great way to set yourself apart and create a consistent style for your website and marketing

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].