Around the Workstand

Tips for making your website your own. The closer your website aligns with your in-store presentation, the better. Shoppers generally meet your website before they visit the store so take an honest look at your site and answer the following question - is your website what you want to present to potential customers? Is it what you wouldn’t say to them if they were in your store? 

• Working with the included templates and theme editor
  • There are 7 templates to start with
  • Add your logo and set your brand colors
  • Local photos - you do not need a professional photographer
  • Local content - where to ride, staff, history, unique value proposition
  • Our Help Center has great tips and instruction and our Client Success Team can guide and train you in making updates
• Premium Themes - here’s something new we’ve come up with
  • Based on our popular Premium Content Packages
  • Semi-custom themes for a reasonable investment of $1,499 and can be completed in a week or less
  • Many to choose from with additional designs added each quarter
• Full Custom Design - as unique as your business
  • Design and content planning
  • Let your imagination run wild - take inspiration from other industries, websites, print, nature, anything
  • Project costs start around $3,000 and generally land between $4,000 - $8,000 (can be higher) and typically take 6 -8 weeks to complete

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].

Welcome Around the Workstand!

Summit - we met as a team recently

• Big characters. Great culture.
• Aligned behind our purpose
• Awesome leadership team

Industry talk

• Trek D2C announcement
  • Expected evolution
  • Seems to be a relatively well thought out program
  • Unknown impact
  • Playbook - Have a great digital strategy
    • More important than ever
    • We’ve got you covered on technology and marketing
• June online results
  • Platform flat overall
    • Driven by Google advertisers and bike sales
  • Typical dealer down 8%
  • Site visits see continued growth over 2023 but slowing
  • Order volume remains down 13%
  • Offset by - Average order value up 16% compared to 2023
  • As expected strongest click and collect performance
    • 41% of orders
    • Roughly at 2019 levels
    • Down from COVID highs of 60%
    • Sign that the typical dealers are getting store traffic from orders
• Collision conference in CO
  • AI was everywhere
  • Clearly going to be impactful on business
  • Zero click search one of first areas of impact

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 a fully remote company, Workstand teams try to get together in person once or twice yearly. This week is one of those times and our Client Services Team - Client Success, Catalog, and Business Development - will be meeting in Boulder, CO. We may be a little slower to respond than usual but it's for a good cause. Weeks such as these are always full of learning moments and great information that we take back to the clients we serve so we thank you for being patient during any inconvenience while we work to improve the services we provide.

Here's what Suzie and Mark talk about in today's episode.

Data dive - we gave you these stats, but what does that mean for you? 
-Google search trends
-Strong electric bike sales
Some report sales down - some report sales up
What’s working?
-Good website management 
-Email Marketing
-Google Ads

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 engaging episode, we dive into various topics from celebrating Pride Month to insights from the NBDA Retailer Summit. The conversation starts with a lively discussion about attending a drag show during Pride Month and the experience of embracing gender expression. The focus then shifts to the NBDA Retailer Summit, highlighting the successful collaboration between suppliers and retailers, with a key emphasis on financial competency and the importance of selling online.

NBDA Retailer Summit
Great support from suppliers, almost half of the attendees
Retailers of all sizes
Longtime supporters, plenty of fresh faces
About half of the presentations were from retailers
Learning from each other
Themes; understanding finances and selling online (all in D2C business)
My presentation on how suppliers think about retailers in the digital space
Standing room only
Good questions
A couple of dealers want to sign up based on the information

May platform results
Order volume across the Workstand platform was -14% for the month, the slowest performance of an already soft spring selling season.
Online bike sales however drove up average order value, resulting in total platform sales being +2%.
Sessions and pageviews continue their strong performance, indicating that consumers are shopping. Our traffic data aligns with Google search volume which has been reliably high this spring and steadily rose during May. 
A bright spot for the month is the typical retailer having their best month of the year, being only -2% for the month compared to -7% in April. Still lagging behind the top performers. 

Electric bikes online
I mentioned online bike sales earlier. It’s worth calling attention to electric bikes. 
Year-over-year online unit sales growth for e-bikes in April/May 2024 is strong at 60% relative to 2023. Electric bike buyers seem to be very comfortable buying their bikes online. 
We have total industry sales results from PeopleForBikes from Q1. While only about 2% of e-bikes sold by bike shops in Q1 2024 were sold online, the annual growth rate of 45% indicates it is outpacing total IBD electric bike sales - reinforcing that same point about consumers buying these bikes online. 

Lauren on the NBDA podcast
Lauren did a great job speaking to why the work of helping bike shops means so much to her and how that informs the work her department does.

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].

During the episode where we tried to answer some common questions in a straightforward manner, one of those questions concerned the idea of what makes a good website homepage. We’ve been thinking about that since the episode and today, we want to help boil that answer down to a base level so that everyone can have the tools to identify good content.

This goes for websites, emails, and all sorts of marketing and communications really but the primary question to ask is ‘Am I answering a question or solving a problem?’

We often talk about how all shopping today starts with search. You want a thing or need a service so you search for that thing or service. SEO best practices suggest the content on your website will perform the best when/if it provides good results for those search queries - in other words, do you have those things on your website, do you offer those services? If the answer is yes, do those things exist in such a way as to be obvious and accessible to the searcher?

If someone walked into your store and did a quick scan or lap, would they see the same things on your homepage?
 
Your website is an extension of your brick-and-mortar business - it should look like it 

Make it easy for the searcher to find and consume the content and you make it easy for a search engine to recommend your website over and over again.

You might be asking yourself, does that mean that every single image or piece of content have to answer questions in this way? What about my blog? What about my Tuesday night worlds recap? What about the 1,000-word how-to article about rebuilding 8-speed Campy shifters? Just think about the utility of your content to the people you’d most likely hope to have in your store. Irrelevant content does nothing to help and can even hurt as a search engine will see that nobody uses it or worse, finds it and bounces away quickly.

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].

Look back at April data and help share some actionable items for helping retailers capture more business 

• Ryan was back in Colorado last week and saw a lot of our team based out of there. We did a pinball happy hour on Thursday, a gravel ride on Friday, and went to the Supercross race in Denver on Saturday. 
• We are stoked about the big software enhancement we released last week. The product detail pages now have a super modern visual interface for customers to select size and color variations. The shopping experience is comparable to REI. We expect to see an increase in add to cart rates just in time for summer website traffic. 
• Looking at the bike industry, most retailers and suppliers are putting a lot of weight on the market performance in May. The spring was pretty erratic and we’re looking for stability entering the summer.
• Promising indicators coming out of April.
• Google search volume for bike shops has been steadily growing on an expected seasonal trend after a slowdown in March.
• Google search volume for “best bike” was at the highest level in the last 18 months in the first week in May. This is great news about consumer demand but it’s also noteworthy that volume for this term is outpacing “bike shop”. This consumer shift to online shopping is continuing - it isn’t going to retreat after COVID. The long term trend is holding, growing about 1% share of total retail sales every year. 
• April website traffic for bike shops using Workstand was up 9% over March and up 11% compared to last year.
• Average Order Value online in April was up 12.5% compared to last year as more consumers are buying bikes online.
• Paying attention to headlines about supplier financial health. Obviously Trek’s cutbacks earlier this year were eye opening but I trust that their leadership team is more than capable of managing through the situation. The news about Kona was more troubling because the company is up for sale. Kona is an important brand for our customers and I’m hoping that the right buyer comes in and stabilizes the company.

What’s coming up next 

• NBDA webinar with Suzie and Ryan this Friday
• Ryan attending the NBDA Retailer Summit next week
• Client Success Summit in June 

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].

There are many things in life where clear-cut answers are difficult to come by. Websites and marketing certainly fall into this category. Do you ever wish someone would just tell you the answers? We will.

Today, based on our own experience - even if you only consider us, Suzie and Mark, that is a combined 20 years here at Workstand working with bicycle retailers all over North America - and with as little bias as we can muster, we’ll just tell you the answers to some common yet confusing questions we often hear.

Direct and simple, ready?

The one we hear the most often - SEO - how can I do better in search?

I’m a local business, why should I sell online? I want people to come to my store and I don’t want to encourage them to shop online.

Why should I pay for ads? Why should I pay Workstand to run my ads?

Does my homepage look good? Is my homepage effective? We don’t hear these questions often enough. 🙂 Request your Complimentary Website Review by the Workstand Client Success Team

Can you help my website perform better without adding additional costs?

The admin navigation has moved since we published this video on how to streamline communications but the info is still valuable and relevant. Use the admin site search to find things that may have moved around.

What am I paying Workstand for in my subscription? I don’t use all the features in my subscription/what could I be taking advantage of more effectively?

Puppies or kittens? Well both, of course.

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 joins Suzie and Mark for our monthly industry update. This time around, it's also a quarterly update and we look at results and trends thus far in 2024. Ryan tells us about the Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC) he recently attended and where his travels will take him in the coming months on behalf of all at Workstand.

BLC
300 bicycle industry leaders in attendance 
Pragmatic about inventory and optimistic outlook 
Inventory situation, talking heads too critical of bike suppliers
Strong consumer sales paired with dealer Just In Time (JIT) orders means wholesale velocity is picking up
Electric bike maturing, growth in transportation
Data presentation
Outstanding service award - Ryan accepts an award on behalf of Workstand! Yay us.

Q1
Ecommerce growth +10% across our platform, February strongest at approximately 22% YoY
Order volume off, with Average Order Volume up double digits
Bike discounts driving sales, especially from Specialized (big traffic increase)
Overall traffic is up every month in Q1
Top performers still driving, typical dealer -3% for the quarter

Google Search Index
General consumer interest in bikes steady with last year
Specifically “bike shop” is a bit softer YTD
That has been the general trend, but learn more as the season develops when “bike shop” volume increases
All search volume has been spiking dramatically on March weekend
It's important to win search, must have products online as consumers shift away from channel-specific search
Electric bike search volume outperforming general terms

More travel for Ryan and team
Our team at Sea Otter meeting with suppliers - look for Matt Lolli and Chris Gardner from our Supplier Team
Speaking at NBDA retailer summit in May
Collision Technology Summit in June

Questions this week:
Q: When will the Workstand POS be able to replace Lightspeed?
That’s not our goal but ...
For many retailers it can today, even if some of the features are lean we are enhancing them rapidly
Perfect fit for our initial target market, merchants with a more outdated POS

Q: Do I have to pay for Google Ads to show up in local search results?
No. Your product pages and location pages in particular are optimized for organic and if you maintain your website properly then the content you create should perform well.

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 talk a lot about marketing and selling by way of great websites, Google Ads, email marketing, and more but this week is different. This week we want to point out that stores shouldn't hard sell all the time. One of the best things a store can do to build long-term value within their community is to meet consumers where they are and help them find value in bikes, riding, and being a part of a healthy and fun-oriented community. That means that in addition to catalog-enabled, commerce-focused websites, merchants should be offering content aimed at helping riders get the most out of their bikes and the bike riding community. Workstand offers so much to help with that! Library pages, brand-supported landing pages, Premium Content Packages, and easy tools to build whatever type of page content is needed. Winning search starts with providing content your customers (and prospective customers) find valuable. Sales follow.

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 band is back together! Ryan is back and will join us each month to share key takeaways from current inventory data,  talk about big-picture topics in our industry, and answer your questions.

Higher total sales amounts (by the dollar) in 2023 but lower total unit sales

• The most recent report from PeopleForBikes provided some summary information about 2023. Last year’s market value was nearly $1 billion over pre-pandemic markets. A lot of people rightly point to the dollar growth coming from a higher average selling price, meaning dollar growth is outpacing units. 
• 4% decrease compared to 2022 but a 7% increase over 2019
•  Electric bikes now make up 20% of total bike sales.

What’s happening now?

• Look at more recent data, we're paying careful attention to the December through February data. Important key metrics have turned the corner across the network. 
• Total online sales are up about 11% and site traffic is up about 10%. 
• Most of 2023 was down relative to the prior 12 months but that trajectory is changing.

What are the areas of growth in our industry? What’s doing well?

• A lot of the growth we're seeing is coming from bikes - largely electric, 29" mountain, and sport/performance road. 
• Heavy discounts in those categories is achieving the intended result of increasing total dollar sales volume.
• Interestingly, discounts in sport/performance road are actually driving up the ASP for bikes in the category. 

But who’s doing well?

• While the largest dealers continue to drive most of our sales volume, in February we saw the first significant uptick for the small and medium sized retailers. 

Crystal ball time - how is 2024 looking? Can we make any predictions? 

• Sizing up the IBD channel right now suggests that 2024 is going to be a tough year. Google Search Data, ridership data, and the sales of consumables like chains and nutrition indicate that people are interested in and riding bikes. 
• Retailers on the whole are running their businesses pragmatically and relying on just in time ordering to stay flexible. 

Okay, you’ve taken us through a number of ups and downs…how can retailers take action to make a positive impact on their sales? 

• My one piece of advice to our customers is to stay very active with your 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].