A bicycle industry big picture conversation with Ryan Atkinson about inventory levels, trends, and growing sales

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 salesThe 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] Us on LinkedInMark Still, Senior Business DevelopmentDavid Martinez, Key Accounts AdvisorWe 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].