How can you get involved in Local Bike Shop Day?

Local Bike Shop Day is back for 2020, taking place on Saturday 2nd May. Local Bike Shop Day is the one day a year when independent bike shops across the UK can come together to celebrate their distinctive culture. It’s the day for local bike shops to showcase their passion, knowledge and personalised service they offer to their local communities.

Why should your shop take part?
Despite only being launched in the UK in 2018, Local Bike Shop Day has since grown to have over 150 local bike shops getting involved in 2019, a growth of 72% from the inaugural year.

Last year’s event saw the hashtag #supportyourlocalbikeshop posted over 75,000 times, as well as having over 100,000 total impressions. There were over 1800 unique visits to the Local Bike Shop Day webpage and several leading suppliers got on board with special Local Bike Shop Day promotions.

Similar successful national days include the likes of Record Store Day, which has helped to raise vinyl sales by 1.6% year-on-year reaching a 25-year high last year, and World Book Day, which increased the UK’s children’s book market by £1.4 million and the adult market by an incredible £2.4 million in 2016.

While Local Bike Shop Day is already seeing year-on-year improvements, with more local bike shops getting involved we can continue to grow the day to benefit more shops and get more people cycling across the UK.

How can you get involved?
While Local Bike Shop Day is a national event involving hundreds of local bike shops, it also provides the opportunity for each shop to show their individuality and organise unique events tailored to their customers and the wider community. Below are just a few ideas of how you can get involved with Local Bike Shop Day and celebrate all that your shop has to offer!

– Offer a free basic repair session/workshop; This could involve running a drop-in session for free puncture repairs or demonstrations in basic maintenance tips such as lubricating a chain, which lubes to use etc. As well as targeting experienced cyclists, Local Bike Shop Day is also aimed at encouraging people that are new to the cycling world to get on their bikes, so any tips you can share with current and potential customers would be much appreciated.

– Guided bike rides; Help your local community to get out and enjoy their local area with a guided tour through countryside/National Parks, Local Cycle Routes or even Local MTB Trails. As well as giving people the chance to explore their local areas, this can also help new cyclists to build confidence.

– Organise a shop charity ride; Encourage your customers to sponsor your staff, or even to jump on a bike themselves to complete a long-distance ride in aid of a worthy charity – this could either be outside or on smart trainers.

Local community engagement
Local Bike Shops represent a trusted and core part of the community, a place for invaluable advice, a planner of events and even holidays, a sponsor of the local cycling club, and a meeting place that also serves a great cuppa.
Remind your community of all that your shop has to offer by going the extra mile for Local Bike Shop Day. This could include:

– Supporting & collaborating with other local independent businesses; This could include carrying out basic repairs for other local businesses, for example, puncture repairs for a local pram shop or recommending local cycle-friendly cafés to your customers. Collaborations can involve multiple high street shops supporting the day by promoting it and even offering discounts.

– Engage with other seasonal events; Tying your event in with other seasonal events may appeal to your customers and attract new members of the community to your shop. For example, Easter Egg hunts or ‘Advent Windows’ events.

– Contact local schools; Raising awareness of Local Bike Shop Day in local schools can help to encourage cycling and build confidence on the roads from a young age. You could also consider allowing local schools to decorate the shop for the day.