BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The Dealer Days initiative has both trade and consumer elements. Staff from suspension specialist Stendec present to staff in the mornings and are on hand in the afternoon to talk tech with consumers. Ten suspension-equipped bikes, from across the Giant range, are available for demo rides.
Noel Haines, partner at Lutterworth Cycles in Leicestershire, said:
“Our Dealer Day was absolutely excellent. Stendec are very knowledgeable and helpful, particularly on subjects such as how to maintain bike hydraulics and forks. This is the first time we’ve ever been offered anything like this from a bike manufacturer. We would certainly be up for a second session next year.”
Mick Allan, store manager at Dave Bater Cycles in Bristol, said:
“The whole event was awesome. It was good for us to see some of the models that we don’t stock, especially the electric bikes which we’ve been interested in for a while now. The team of experts gave us lots of good pointers about the way the suspension bikes work which was very informative for the staff and we found the background information on Giant very interesting: it’s not something we’ve been told before and it helps us when selling to our customers.”
100+ IBDs are on the waiting list for a Giant Dealer Day and they benefit from both the day itself and the pre-event publicity paid for by Giant, displayed on Giant ads in magazines such as Cycling Weekly, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and MBR.
Giant UK MD Ian Beasant said:
“It’s important that shop staff know how to get the most out of the features such as No-Resonance and Compact road frames so they can educate their customers. These Dealer Days are the perfect solution. The afternoons are like a mini-bike show in that bike shop customers are introduced to Giant bikes that they might not otherwise have had a chance to trial.”
Trialling bikes not normally stocked has its advantages. Ian Jeremiah, co-owner of Cyclopedia in Cardiff, sold bikes off the back of his Dealer Day:
“We encouraged customers to come along and it proved very worthwhile for them and us: we gained some orders out of it. Our customers had the opportunity to try out bikes that we don’t usually stock and were able to take out some really high quality bikes.
“It’s a great initiative and very informative and we learned quite a few handy bits and pieces regarding the setting up of suspension forks and some good tips on disc brakes too. We would definitely be interested in another Dealer Day and would promote it more extensively next time.”
IBDs with confirmed dates for their own Dealer Day shouldn’t just rely on Giant’s promotional support, said Beasant. He said it would help if the shop did a mail shot to their customer database, especially those customers who have previously bought suspension products. In-store promotions should be started at least a month before the day itself and, a fortnight before the event, ads should be placed in the local press, said Beasant.
All the available Dealer Day slots have been booked for this year but IBDs can book for next year by calling 0115 977 5903.
